


as long as the universe lets us (we'll make this a home)

by violetstardust



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant (Ish), F/F, Fix-It Ending, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, they live the sapphic dream okay, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27097396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetstardust/pseuds/violetstardust
Summary: Soulmarks most often appear in writing, of something your soulmate's said to you before, or something they'll say to you in the future. Some people don't have soulmarks, some do. They can appear or disappear, or be twisted in such ways which are confusing to all. The universe doesn't mess around when it comes to soulmates. Everyone has their own destiny, no matter how heartbreaking it might be.Dani’s thought about soulmates. She’s thought about soulmates long and hard, wondering if she even has one; if a soulmark will ever appear on her skin, marking her for hopeful destiny and tying her to someone in this vast clutter of the universe.Jamie has no reason to believe in love. Why should she, anyway? The universe shouldn’t be able to control everyone like puppets. She doesn’t suppose she has a soulmate, and she quite frankly doesn’t care.
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 46
Kudos: 444





	1. i. dani

**Author's Note:**

> FUCK THIS i wrote this over the weekend and i am absolutely dying. dani and jamie have taken over my life and i don't mind. anyways here's 10k words of absolute BULLSHIT i don't even know where i was going with this. help i'm tired. i tried proofreading but almost fell asleep in the middle. sorry. also the title?? i made that shit up. i'm bad at titles. i don't know what i'm doing. it's the middle of the night. i'm tired. this fic was highkey a coping mechanism.
> 
> set-up: 2 chapter, the first is dani's side of the story, the second will be jamie's.

Soulmarks are truly difficult to understand. There are no rules at all, and they are open to such interpretation that the universe might combust with theory and thought of everything that could define a soulmark. For one, no one knows when a soulmark might appear on their skin. Some people are born with them, some find themselves with one later on in life, and some wait their entire lives. They’re words, for most people, of something a soulmate might say to them sometime. They can be words that a soulmate has already said to them. They can be the first words a soulmate might say to them, or the last, or any words in between. There have been rare cases of some people having inky soulmark drawings pattern their skin instead of words, proving that there certainly are no laws when the universe forms soulmarks.

Soulmarks change too, of course. They can disappear and reappear at any given moment, or simply change colors. There are technicalities too, of course, often looked down on as “glitches in the system.” A person can have an unrequited soulmate, more than one soulmate, or no soulmate at all. Soulmates are a mess of a system, and take too much to even think about.

**i. dani**

Dani’s thought about soulmates. She’s thought about soulmates long and hard, wondering if she even has one; if a soulmark will ever appear on her skin, marking her for hopeful destiny and tying her to someone in this vast clutter of the universe. She stays with Eddie for one reason: the scrawl of words on his wrist were said to him by Dani, so she _must_ be his soulmate. There isn’t any other explanation, never mind that she doesn’t have her own soulmark yet.

And then it happens. She’s been engaged to Eddie for the shortest amount of time, not quite _feeling_ it, when words appear on her skin. They’re gorgeous, silverish-green in color, written in a beautiful line across her ribcage. Dani sees them first in the mirror, in the morning when she gets out of the shower. Her hand flies to her mouth to stifle a gasp, as she gazes in the mirror at the words.

_Chin up, Poppins._

She blinks, once, twice, thrice. Dani rubs her eyes and squints at the words, reading them and rereading them, engraving them into her mind. _Chin up, Poppins._ She wonders what the words _mean._ One thing is certain— they’re one thousand percent not Edmund’s words. He couldn’t say something like this to her. Dani can feel it in her heart that they’re not his.

She absolutely can’t let him see the words. She’s _his_ soulmate, but he’s not _hers._

The morning brings on a turmoil of feelings. They’re _engaged,_ if Dani broke it off then she would be disappointing _everyone._ Never mind that Dani’s never felt quite exactly what she’s supposed to feel for him, she can’t just _dump_ him. Not now. Not after all of these years. They’re about to get _married._

She can’t, though. She can’t bring herself to do it, to get married to him. Dani’s got to break up with him, _tonight_.

And when Dani does it, he wants more reason, more of an explanation, so she lifts up her shirt and shows him the words inscribed over her ribs. His mouth drops open with shock, he’s yelling, and Dani’s crying. Then he gets out of the car and everything ends, for real this time.

Dani can’t help but to cry, and cry, and cry. She feels like Eddie’s death is her fault, and it hits her hard. Maybe if she had just shut up about the soulmark, he would still be here and they could be happy in whatever halfhearted way love had been throughout her life.

At the same time, his death feels like a relief, as if she’s been set free. It makes her feel guilty to think that, but she does it anyway.

England may be where Dani might find her freedom. She’s fleeing, really, from the haunting presence of Edmund’s soul, lingering in the background everywhere she is. He’s always there, in the mirrors and the back of her head, and she needs to get rid of him. Dani has to go, and she has to go far so that he won’t be able to follow her anymore.

It doesn’t work. He’s still in England. Dani feels his presence on the street, right when she’s leaving for the au pair position that she had received at Bly Manor. It’s chilling, if just for a second, but she tries to dismiss it as she makes her way through the countryside.

She makes it to Bly, and it’s a gorgeous manor, really. There is a somewhat strange feel to it, but Dani just supposes it’s because of all that she’s heard of Rebecca Jessel. The children are sweet enough, and Mrs. Grose and Owen are _perfectly splendid._ Dani feels like she can make a home for herself here.

And then Eddie shows up, in the bathroom mirror. Dani jumps and quickly looks away, thoughts consumed by fear and dread, of the ex-fiance ghost who’s come to haunt her fucking soul, come to make her _pay_. Flora’s there, though, so she shakes it off and smiles at the child and sends her off to bed.

Dani likes it at Bly. It’s nice, regardless of Edmund unexpectedly floating around in her space. She wants to throw his glasses away, drop them on the floor and stomp all over them with heavy boots, but she _doesn’t_ , because she feels like she owes him that much, at least. 

Time seems slow at Bly, but it’s enjoyable. She puts the children to work with a few chores, turning them into games. She has lunch with Mrs. Grose and Owen, who tell her about Bly and talk with her as if they’ve known her for a long, long time. It’s nice.

And then the children lock her in the closet that night, and it’s _suffocating._ Dani can feel his presence everywhere in the tiny closet. She looks behind her and shrieks— there he stands, looming in the large mirror in Flora’s closet. Dani desperately grabs at cloth to cover the mirror. She can’t stand to see him, she can’t stand to think of him, and she feels like she’s going to die in that little tiny closet space. Dani pounds on the door, begging the children to let her out. The longer she stays in the closet, the more the walls seem to cave in.

When they let her out, she’s a mess. Her cheeks are flushed and sweat shines over her skin as she tries to collect her breathing. “We’ll talk about it in the morning,” she says, and hurries to her own room to recover from the incident.

After the closet incident, things take a downwards turn for Dani. She feels like Edmund is following her, she feels like the walls of the manor are closing in on her, and she feels like she’s about to absolutely lose it. When she rushes out of the manor and hides behind the tall shrub to cry, the last thing she needs is to hear a voice, and indicator that someone is there, seeing her at her lowest.

“You alright?” the voice of the gardener comes. Jamie is her name, if Dani remembers correctly. The gardener had not even introduced herself when she had first seen her, she had barely acknowledged Dani at all. She had simply just walked by in the kitchen, treating Dani as if she had always been at the manor.

Dani holds her breath, and then Jamie’s talking, her words somehow helping to release the tension packed in Dani’s shoulders. She listens intently to the sound of Jamie’s voice. It’s strong and reassuring, and suddenly Dani feels better than she’s felt in days.

“Right. Well, back to it then. Chin up, Poppins,” Jamie says, picking up her buckets and walking away. Dani grins and looks after her, wondering when they’ll meet next.

Dani almost doesn’t even register the words at first. The realization comes a few seconds after processing, but it feels as if something has just clicked perfectly into place. Dani’s hand flies to her ribs, to her soulmark, and it seems to burn brightly underneath the fabric of her shirt. Her heartbeat quickens, and she looks back to the direction Jamie’s just gone in.

It’s her. It’s got to be her. There’s no way Jamie could’ve ever seen Dani’s soulmark. Jamie is Dani’s soulmate, her person, the one the universe intends her to be with.

She holds the realization close to herself as she goes back to work, her heart fluttering with every step. Dani can’t help but to glance over at Jamie every once in a while. She catches Jamie’s gaze at one point, and Jamie smiles at her. It makes Dani feel all warm and happy inside— she wants to see Jamie smile again, and again, and again.

But then, Peter Quint happens. They tell her about him in hushed voices, after the children have gone to bed. “They were soulmates, Rebecca and Quint. Had the soulmarks. But they were as bad as it is for each other. Someone so sweet and smart like her; the universe cursed her with Quint.”

“Soulmates are shit,” Jamie mutters under her breath, and Dani’s heart clenches softly. “The universe messes with people too much. Mixing up love and possession… soulmates are more of a curse than a blessing.” Jamie looks up at Dani, and their eyes meet. "What about you then, Poppins? Got a soulmate?"

Dani blinks, still reeling from all of Jamie's previous words. She looks down, and then back up at Jamie, not really sure of what to say. “Uh, I— I… um,” she stutters, “it’s sort of complicated.” She bites her lip and looks back down, silently cursing at herself. What Dani had really wanted to say was _it's you, you're my soulmate._ She wants to tell Jamie so desperately, but she just doesn't want to mess anything up between them.

Later, she sits on the couch next to Jamie, looking at a photograph of Rebecca and Peter. “People do, don’t they?” she says softly, “mix up love and possession?”

Jamie looks at her, giving her the softest of nods. “Yeah, they do.” She holds Dani’s gaze, and it feels like the easiest thing ever, to look into Jamie’s eyes and pour out her whole entire heart. It feels so easy to talk to Jamie. So full of understanding and love. It’s as if they’re meant to be.

“I don’t think that should be possible,” Dani whispers. The conversation feels like a secret one, talking of love and possession and million other things that the universe fucked up with. “I mean, they’re opposites, really, love and ownership.”

Jamie nods at her, still holding her gaze, and Dani sees the corners of her mouth turn up ever so slightly. She gets that warm feeling all over again and aches to make Jamie smile, to make Jamie laugh.

Dani has the sudden urge to reach out and grab Jamie’s hand, to lean in, to feel the softness of the gardener’s skin and dwell in it, but she suppresses all of it. She holds herself back while intently gazing into Jamie’s eyes, wondering if she’ll ever tell her about the words scrawled across her ribs. She’s afraid— Dani wants this _so_ _much_ , to feel the way she’s meant to feel, but what if Jamie is her soulmate but Dani isn’t Jamie’s?

It’s quickly turning into one of her worst fears.

When she comes downstairs the next morning and sees Jamie fast asleep on the couch, Dani stays there for a moment, trying to memorize every feature of Jamie's perfect face. Jamie looks so peaceful, so pretty, just like a painting. 

It’s so effortless to fall in love with Jamie. It’s quick and easy, and Dani falls into it comfortably like it’s a dream. She finds herself looking out of the window to see Jamie down in the garden below. She looks forward to lunches more and more, just hoping for Jamie to be there.

“Hey, Poppins,” Jamie says as Dani walks into the kitchen. Dani looks over at her and smiles, and just like that, “Poppins” sticks. Dani loves it. She loves all words that come from Jamie’s mouth, really. Jamie makes everything sound so sophisticated and meticulous. Her voice is mesmerizing; Dani could listen to Jamie talk all day and never quite get enough. 

Dani finds herself thinking of her past less and less, and of Jamie more and more. The manor still has a strange feel to it, with its haunting feel and Eddie still looming in the background, but it just doesn’t matter so much when Jamie’s around.

Then there’s the matter of Peter Quint; he just won’t seem to leave them alone. Dani hates him, as the others do, but she can’t help but to feel badly for him. To think that his soulmate, Rebecca, might still be alive, and to be seeking her and their love… it sounds like the most compelling type of love, yet the most dangerous.

Jamie and Owen stay late that night, to watch the children perform a storytime play. They all sit together in a row to watch. It’s delightful to see Flora and Miles have so much fun. Dani feels so _included._ They’re all like a family to her, now. She can see herself looking forward to these types of nights.

The mood diminishes shortly afterwards. The phone rings and Jamie gets up to answer it, expecting it to be Peter Quint. It isn’t. It’s Owen’s neighbor, delivering the news of his mother’s death. Suddenly, Dani doesn’t know what to do or how to feel, for Owen’s just lost someone so close to him, and she’s been there before. They all see him to the door, and he’s crying quietly when Mrs. Grose pulls him into a hug. Dani and Jamie stand next to each other, watching. Owen gets into his car and drives away, and Mrs. Grose heads off to light a candle.

And then it’s just them. They stand alone together, in the drive of Bly Manor, and Dani wants to _do_ something, to tell Jamie that she’s got her soulmark, _anything._ Jamie clears her throat and steps forward, so Dani silently walks with her to Jamie’s car. They’re halfway there, when Dani feels a little spark of courage in her veins, so she quickly steps up to catch pace with Jamie.

“I’m so glad you stayed,” is all she can muster up, but it seems like enough for now. Jamie slows in her step, and studiously gazes at Dani. Their shoulders brush. Dani feels sudden warmth, even through the cold air and layers of clothing. 

“I am too,” Jamie says, and she steps forward and then turns to face Dani.

It looks for a moment as if Jamie is about to lean in, to kiss her, and Dani wants it so desperately. She wants to wrap her arms around Jamie and kiss her to the ends of the world, and she hopes Jamie can’t see it in her eyes. Dani’s ribcage feels sudden warmth again, and she can feel the words inked onto her skin burn again. 

_Chin up, Poppins._

She reaches forward for Jamie’s hand and takes it. She wants to pull Jamie forward and kiss her, but she doesn’t. It’s just the simplest of touch, but it makes Dani feel electricity spark up through her whole body, lighting her heart on fire. She lets go, quickly, afraid that she’s being too quick.

Jamie turns to open the car door. Then, she thoughtfully turns to look over at Dani once more, her crooked smile turning up slightly. “Who the hell knew?” And just with that, Jamie’s off.

Dani looks down; the words feel warm against her skin again. She looks back up, after Jamie’s car, and bites her lip.

When Dani turns around to head back into the manor, still thinking about Jamie, Eddie’s ghost is a foot away, staring at her. She stares, lip quivering, fearful, as he is yanked back towards the manor. A bloodcurdling scream escapes from her lips. All she can see are his glasses, _blazing_ glasses burning into her mind.

The next morning, after a fitful night of sleep, she’s standing in a black dress, getting ready for Owen’s funeral. Jamie said that she would take her, and Dani felt like she couldn’t turn down going to Owen’s mum’s funeral. Going to the funeral would be the polite thing to do, so she would go.

She can’t help but think of Eddie, however. He’s _everywhere_ , in her dreams, in the corridors, and in the mirrors. Dani feels so guilty about Jamie. She feels so bad about having a soulmate who isn’t Eddie, because maybe if Eddie was her soulmate, then he wouldn’t be dead. A funeral is just going to refresh those feelings, and Dani isn’t sure if she can take it.

Dani can feel footsteps coming along the hallway. She looks up slowly, half hopeful for it to be Jamie there at the door.

Two knocks and Jamie asks, “you decent?”

Dani musters up her willpower and turns towards the door. “Come in!” she calls, and the door creaks open.

There stands Jamie, in a pretty black dress with a coat over it. Her hair is done up nicely, and a small silver necklace sits across her collar. She looks… _stunning._ There really is no other word for it. It suits her so nicely, and Dani can’t help but to stare. A small “oh!” escapes her. “You look—”

“I can scrub up when I need to,” Jamie says, closing the door behind her. “Funeral starts at four. Owen said we should get there early.”

Dani doesn’t comprehend all of Jamie’s words. She can’t help it, really, because she’s too busy thinking about how gorgeous Jamie is. Her soulmark burns underneath her dress, and she disregards it, trying not to think about it too hard. “Okay,” Dani simply replies.

Jamie walks over and takes a seat on the bench at the end of the bed. She raises her eyebrows as she looks at Dani. “It’s a… it’s quite a dress,” she finally nods, after looking Dani up and down.

“Yeah, it’s the only thing I had in black,” Dani says, feeling slightly flustered. She looks down at the dress again, cursing herself for not packing any better black pieces before coming to England. “I— I hate it.”

“It does look a _bit_ like you’re trying to scandalize the village,” Jamie says, a slight humorous twinge to her voice. Dani feels her heart flutter softly, and her soulmark burn brightly. Jamie shrugs, continuing. “Can’t say I _fault_ the general principle,” she grins.

“Yeah, I just don’t wanna let Owen down,” Dani says.

“He won’t mind,” Jamie says reassuringly. “Honestly. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

Dani feels a weight being lifted off of her chest. She feels so thankful to Owen, thankful to Jamie, thankful that she won’t have to show up to a funeral in this _horrid_ dress and comfort Owen and all the horrible sad things that come along with funerals.

And then she finds herself spilling out that she “had a funeral in her own life, not so long ago,” and it feels stupid from the moment the words leave her mouth, but Jamie stands and walks up real close to Dani, interrupting her. 

“Hey, Poppins,” she says, and Dani’s soulmark seems to warm, “it’s your day off. I promise, I don’t need you to be my date to Owen's mum’s funeral.”

“Okay,” Dani says, even more relief flooding her. She’s on the brink of either smiling or crying, so she quickly turns. “Then can you help me get this thing off?” She feels stupid saying it, but really, she needs help with the zipper because the dress is a nightmare to get off alone.

“Blimey,” comes Jamie’s strong voice.

“No, seriously,” Dani says, laughing a little, feeling better about the whole situation. “The, uh, the zipper?”

Jamie moves her fingers delicately across Dani’s back, working at the zipper. The movement of her fingers send a pleasant chill through Dani, and she bites her lip. Dani turns as Jamie tries to undo the zipper, and there she spots him. Edmund. In the uncovered crack of the mirror, he stands, staring at her. Unforgiving.

She gasps and jumps at the sight of him, and Jamie jerks her hands away as Dani turns.

Jamie leaves seconds after, instructing Dani to relax. She walks to the door and turns around, smiles at Dani, and then she’s out the door. Dani won’t be able to relax, not while Eddie lingers in her life. She knows she’s going to anxiously await Jamie’s return if she doesn’t immerse herself into something, so she heads out, finding Flora first, and then Mrs. Grose.

Dani has quite the conversation with Mrs. Grose, and at the end finds herself lighting a candle. For Eddie. She knows it’s not enough, but it’s _something._

They spend the evening in the kitchen, all cooking together. Dani waits for Jamie to come back, while peeling potatoes for Owen’s favorite dinner. She can’t wait for Jamie. Jami is the only safe thought that occupies Dani’s mind, the other thoughts being a whirlwind of Eddie and ghosts and death.

Jamie walks into the kitchen not shortly afterwards, in that beautiful black dress that Dani can’t get enough of. As soon as she sees Jamie, her soulmark warms under her shirt. She can’t stop staring at Jamie, clinging onto every word that Jamie says, of the funeral and Owen’s mum and life and death. She peers at Jamie as Jamie pulls her earrings out, and then Jamie looks up and catches Dani’s eyes. She smiles softly, and Dani blinks and quickly looks down.

She goes to wash the dishes, and there Eddie is again, haunting her. She jumps, alarming everyone in the kitchen.

“Poppins, you alright?” Jamie asks from across the kitchen. Her voice is immediately comforting.

“I’m fine,” Dani assures, and rushes out of the kitchen, trying to force Eddie out of her head. She paces quickly, and clenches her teeth in anger as Eddie floats around in her head.

The cherry on top is Peter Quint. Fucking Peter Quint. When it turns out to be Owen at the door and not Peter Quint, Dani is positive that she’s seeing things, seeing _ghosts._ Her sanity is slowly stripping away, and the only thing tying her back to the world is her fucking soulmark. It grows warm as she gets closer and closer to Jamie, leaving her simply yearning for the gardener. Her soulmate.

“Owen, you prat,” Jamie comes up behind her again, but Dani knows it this time even before she hears her voice. Her soulmark has grown warmer, alerting her to Jamie’s presence. Dani feels like she’s in the midst of a panic attack, and Jamie’s presence is the only thing keeping her anchored to reality.

Jamie softly takes the poker stick from Dani’s hand and puts it back in its place, and that’s the end of it.

The rest of the night is strange. Dani sits with Jamie and Owen and Hannah outside, by a bonfire. They drink, talk, and drink some more. It seems like a fever dream. When Jamie talks of offering a bone to the bonfire, everyone speaks. Everyone except Dani. She can’t bear to bring herself to think of Eddie. She relives the guilt all over again in a nanosecond, looking over at Jamie, seeing her _soulmate_ and yet again remembering that Eddie is dead simply because she wasn’t _his._

Dani doesn’t even remember how, but she’s suddenly walking back with Jamie. Jamie smiles at her and it’s the only thing in the world that matters. They make their way back to Jamie’s little greenhouse of sorts, sitting on the couch under blankets. Jamie passes Dani the bottle and she takes it, gratefully. Her soulmark warms, yet again, and Dani inhales softly.

They’re so _close_ to each other. Dani is so conscious of it, yet it feels so safe and so perfect, like she’s been meant to be besides Jamie her whole life. So she finds herself pouring out her story to Jamie. It’s the first time she’s told anyone about Eddie, and she’s so relieved to get it off of her chest.

“Is he here now?” Jamie asks. She sounds so concerned, like she really _cares_ , and it makes Dani feel all the more safer in her presence. 

“No,” Dani says. She can’t feel his presence. She looks around, just in case, and he’s nowhere to be seen.

“Good,” Jamies says. “Cause, you know, I’ll sort him out for you if I have to.” She turns her head slightly. “Oi! Dead boyfriend! Give it up mate! It’s over!” she calls, and Dani can’t help but manage the smallest of smiles.

Jamie’s only known her story for a few minutes, and already, she’s threatening to go face to face with a ghost and beat him up for Dani. Dani’s soulmark grows warmer, and she gazes over at Jamie. There are mere inches between them; it certainly wouldn’t take much to lean in and seal the space. Dani wants to kiss her. She wants to kiss Jamie so badly; she just wants to dwell in Jamie’s presence and lose herself in the comfort of Jamie’s safety. 

Jamie is speaking, but Dani just can’t help it. She leans in and kisses Jamie, moving her hands to Jamie’s shoulders to get closer to her. Her soulmark _burns_ , in a wonderful way as she kisses Jamie with her whole existence, feeling soft bliss between their lips.

They break apart but yet remain so close. Jamie cups Dani’s face as their foreheads press together. “Are you sure?” Jamie asks softly in the space between them.

Dani looks over Jamie’s shoulder, half expecting to see Eddie there. He’s not, so she turns back to Jamie. “Yes.”

A smile blooms on Jamie’s lips, and so Dani leans back in and kisses Jamie again. It feels wildly freeing, in a way she’s _never_ felt before. It’s everything and more. It’s passion and freedom and want and joy all mixed into one kiss. It’s what Dani’s been searching for her entire life. Her true soulmate.

And then Eddie is right there, as soon as she thinks the word _soulmate._ He’s haunting her, and it feels like he won’t ever stop.

He ruins everything.

Jamie leaves. She says it’s all good, but it feels strange. There’s an awkward tension between them, Dani feels, so when she returns to the manor, she can’t sleep. She ends up wandering the halls, and then comforting Flora after the children run to her because of a nightmare.

And then, Dani knows what to do. She remembers Jamie, talking at the bonfire, of throwing a bone to the fire. Dani gets Eddie’s cracked glasses, her last tangible memory of him. She walks back out to the fire, and unregretfully throws them in. 

It’s a satisfying feeling, to watch them burn.

He stands right in front of her as the glasses burn, but Dani doesn’t care anymore. She turns away, determined to not let him haunt her any further.

Dani wakes up early, a few mornings later, when she knows that Jamie will be back. She's determined to mend things up from how they had left off. It’s Thursday, and she knows that Jamie will be up and about around six am— she’s seen Jamie before from her window, when she couldn’t sleep and had just gotten up early. So Dani gets dressed, tiptoes down to the kitchen, and brews some coffee. 

She’s positive that Jamie will be up in the greenhouse, so she carries the two mugs of coffee out, feeling the dampness of the morning air chill right through her coat and sweater. Dani can feel her soulmark grow warmer as she walks closer to the greenhouse.

Jamie stands inside of the greenhouse, with her back to the open door. She’s watering a few flowers, and Dani just stands there, drawing in Jamie’s form. She’s absolutely beautiful, Dani can’t get enough of her. Her soulmark warms on her ribcage, and Dani can hear the words ring inside of her head.

_Chin up, Poppins._

So she stands bravely, slightly clears her throat, and smiles.

Jamie turns arounds slowly, catches sight of Jamie, and then turns back to her plants. “Don’t usually see you this early in the A.M.,” she says, looking down at a flower plant.

Dani starts to stammer, but her soulmark warms under her sweater again, so she finds the words. “I know that you start early on Thursdays,” she says, and Jamie looks up from her plants and to Dani. Dani blinks. “I thought I’d bring you some coffee.” She holds the mugs up as she walks to Jamie, who’s turned to the plants again.

“You yanks and your coffee,” Jamie murmurs.

“You might like it,” Dani says confidently, pleased when Jamie turns and accepts the mug.

“Cheers,” Jamie says. They lift the mugs to their mouths together, and Dani watches intently as Jamie takes her first sip. Jamie makes a sort of a face, and then spits the coffee back out into the mug.

Dani feels blood rushing to her cheek as embarrassment rises in her. “I’m not the best at coffee, either,” she admits, but as she feels a twinge of warmth from her soulmark, she finds her confidence again. She’s about to ask Jamie about that night, if they could possibly have a redo, but Jamie cuts in before Dani can say anything.

“How’s your week been?” she asks, lifting up a watering can.

“It’s been okay,” Dani says. She finds herself talking, just to fill the empty space between them with words. 

“Did you wake up just for this?” Jamie asks, her eyes flitting up and down Dani.

“No,” Dani says instantly, the threat of embarrassment hanging in her mind.

“You just waited for me to come back.” Jamie squints at Dani with scrutiny.

“I knew that you were coming back today,” Dani says, trying to find the right words to her defense, “but… no, no particular reason.” She looks hopefully at Jamie, who doesn’t seem to buy it.

“Are the kids awake?”

“No, no, they’re asleep,” Dani says, feeling heat crawling into her face.

“So you just got up with the sun,” Jamie says, putting both hands on the table in front of her and leaning forward. “And you’re tiptoeing around the kitchen, making awful coffee by yourself… just to come say hi at six in the morning, for no particular reason?”

Dani tries a smile, looking hopefully over at Jamie.

“Poppins,” Jamie says, raising her eyebrows, “you _flirt._ ” She turns around and walks towards some other plants, and Dani feels it again. Her soulmark. It grows warm, so she quickly follows Jamie.

“Fine,” she confesses, “I don’t like the way we left it.”

“How did we leave it?” Jamie inquires, and the look on her face seems to be tugging Dani deeper into this mess of feelings. Jamie’s playing with her heartstrings, with every look and every word. Dani can’t get out of this now. She’s in too deep.

“Wrong,” she says, “and I wanted to start doing something right.” The way Jamie is looking at her makes Dani feel it all over again, the spark in her heart. She wants to lean in and kiss Jamie all over again, but this time she wants to do it _right._ She doesn’t want to mess it up. She wants them to try again. “I thought I’d start with coffee.”

Jamie nods slowly and looks down. “You sure about that?”

And just like that, Dani feels so flustered. Jamie won’t stop tugging on her heartstrings, won’t stop making Dani question her every move. Her soulmark seems to be playing games with her, growing with warmth at every touch, every bit of closeness between them.

“Every time I think you might be sure,” Jamie says, moving back to tend to other plants, “you’ve got this irritating habit of jumping back, like you’ve just seen a scary bug.”

Maybe it means that Jamie wants this too.

“I like you,” Jamie continues, and Dani feels her heart swell up. “But I also like my life the way it is. Nice and boring.”

Dani seizes the opportunity. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to disrupt that,” she says, and still turned the other way, she tries for a British accent. “Gotuh keep things propuh borin’, ‘aven’t we?” 

As soon as she hears Jamie’s snicker, she turns around towards her. And then she asks if Jamie wants to get a drink with her, feeling almost like she’s asking Jamie out on a proper date. “You and me… we could get a boring old drink, in a boring old pub, and sees where that takes us.” She wants it so badly, to pursue this relationship, whatever it could be. Dani wants to tell her so bad, show her the words on her ribs that Jamie’s already said to her. The words that tie them to each other. She wonders if Jamie’s got a soulmark, and what it might say. She wonders if it’s something she’ll end up saying to Jamie later on. She wonders if they’re meant to be.

Jamie turns, with the little smile on her face that makes Dani’s heart soar. “You know I live above that pub, right?” she says, and Dani feels her soulmark warm and her smile grow. “Told you that already, didn’t I? Got a little flat. Right above the boring little pub.”

Dani smiles at Jamie, building up to a humorous retort. Before she can say anything, though, she sees Flora through the window out of the corner of her eye, and her smile fades.

They both run out in a panic after the child. “Flora!”

Jamie ends up carrying Flora back into the manor, and they put her back to bed. Dani can’t stop thinking about the incident. Everything at Bly Manor just seems to get stranger and stranger, and talking to Jamie is the only thing that feels even remotely normal.

Later that night, Dani makes her way down to the kitchen after she checks on Flora. Owen and Hannah are there, and Dani can’t help but to wonder about them. They have this type of closeness that she’s only really seen between people who are meant to be. Dani wonders if they have the soulmarks. 

She makes her way towards the tea pot, intending to try again with tea and see if she can get any better at it. She’d love to make some properly good tea for Jamie one day, she supposes.

“Don’t touch that.” Jamie stands there in the kitchen hands behind her back, and Dani looks up, a little startled. 

“I thought you left," Dani says, hand still on the tea pot.

“Made it halfway home, and I thought, rough day. Maybe Poppins might fancy a little boredom.” Jamie walks closer and leans against the counter, revealing a bouquet of flowers tied together with a ribbon in her hands. "Brought you flowers."

Dani stares at the flowers, the gorgeous arrangement of pinks and purples, and her breath hitches as Jamie presses them into her hands. Their fingers brush, causing Dani's heart to skip a beat. "They're lovely," Dani breathes, bringing the flowers up to her nose. She peeks over them at Jamie, who's wearing the most prideful smile ever, and in that moment, Dani's heart absolutely melts. "There was a vase here," Dani says, slightly flustered as she turns around to search the cabinets. She quickly finds a vase and turns to fill it with water, but Jamie takes it from her.

"Let me help you with that," Jamie says, still smiling at her, so Dani watches as Jamie gently puts the flowers in the vase after filling it with water.

"They would look so pretty right here," Dani says, and puts them in the center of the island, eagerly looking from Jamie to the flowers and back at Jamie again.

Jamie laughs. Her laughter is the chorus of the heavens, the best music Dani's ever heard. She looks effortlessly gorgeous, and Dani can’t keep her eyes off of her. “So, a little boredom. What do you say?” Jamie asks her, shaking Dani out of her thoughts.

So Dani lets Jamie grab her hand and lead her out of the kitchen, electricity buzzing into her heart with the touch. Jamie takes her outside, and they’re suddenly making their path through the woods. She follows Jamie closely, looking at the light of the flashlight in Jamie’s hand. There’s excitement bubbling up inside of her, and she feels like she should be scared of the dark and the woods, but she’s not. Jamie’s here, and Dani trusts Jamie with her whole soul.

Jamie leads her to a moonflower plant. It’s beautiful. Jamie starts talking to Dani, and every word uttered by her is so full of meaning, so absolutely breathtaking. Jamie certainly has a way with words, and Dani hangs onto every single one for dear life. She gazes at the moonflower and revels in its beauty; to think that Jamie planted this beautiful moonflower, poured in her heart and soul and so much effort, only for it to die in just three weeks.

“That’s what people feel like to me,” Jamie says from behind her. “Exhaustive effort, and very little to show for it.”

“All of them?” Dani asks.

“All of them. Even you.”

Dani’s heart skips a beat.

“Even me. Especially me.”

Dani gazes at Jamie. Her face is illuminated in the moonlight, and Dani can feel her soulmark grow a bit warm. Soft rain pitter-patters all around them, but the only thing that matters right now is _them_.

And then Dani is sitting next to Jamie, as Jamie tells her her story. Dani clings onto every sentence, every fragment of words strung together with beautiful meaning. She gazes at Jamie in wonder, an astonishing woman, Dani’s _soulmate_ , and she can’t help but fall in love a little bit.

Jamie pours her entire heart out. “Sometimes,” she says, “once in a blue goddamn moon, I guess, someone, like this moonflower, just might be worth the effort.” Jamie speaks of soulmates and of love and loss, her past, every little thing that Dani could have ever wondered about her. Dani wonders if she's talking about _them_ when Jamie speaks of soulmates, and if Jamie _knows_.

Dani can see her so clearly, so vulnerable as she finishes speaking, and Dani just doesn’t have any words. Jamie’s spoken all of them for her. All Dani can do is walk up to Jamie, to get _close_ to her. She puts a hand on Jamie’s shoulder, and as Jamie holds onto her arms, Dani leans in and kisses her.

Passion rips up inside of her, and her soulmark feels like it’s lit up. It’s raining all around them, and all Dani can think about is _Jamie_ . And how they’ve finally made it here, and how everything feels so good and safe with her. They break apart, and Dani gazes into Jamie’s eyes. Jamie smiles, and there it is again, that _smile_ that makes Dani go weak in the knees and head over heels. She wraps her arms around Jamie and kisses her again, and again, and again, this time doing it right.

Morning arrives and she wakes up next to Jamie, who’s still peacefully asleep. Dani looks around, not quite believing it yet. She hasn’t slept this well in _ages_ , and she’s still careening from everything that’s been happening. She looks over at Jamie, and notices something on her shoulder, something that Dani hadn’t noticed before.

There are dark purple, cursive words written across Jamie’s shoulder. Dani takes a deep breath. _Jamie’s soulmark._ She moves closer, to get a better look, to read the words. 

_I’m so glad you stayed_

Dani’s eyes widen as she recognizes them as her very own words. She said it that night, when Owen’s mum died and Jamie was leaving, hadn’t she? She’d gone and tried to take a big step, but all she was able to muster up was “I’m so glad you stayed.”

Dani wonders when the words must have appeared. Does Jamie know? She stares down at the delicate soulmark and then reaches out to touch them. The words grow warm under her touch, and Jamie stirs in her sleep.

“Morning,” she mumbles, and Dani smiles, softly moving her hand away from Jamie’s shoulder. Jamie turns over to face Dani, pulling the blankets up to her chin.

“You saw it then, didn’t you?” 

“Saw what?” Dani asks innocently, a smile blooming over her lips.

“The soulmark. You saw it,” Jamie says, and Dani nods. “You have one too.” Jamie sits up in bed and shifts closer to Dani. “Right here.” She softly presses her fingers against Dani’s soulmark, grinning up at her.

Dani gasps with the touch. Her soulmark dances over her skin with spellbinding warmth. The feeling fades away slowly, right after Jamie moves her hand away. 

“Chin up, Poppins,” Jamie winks.

“I— how did you know?” Dani asks, her mind a fuzzled mess of memories, of first seeing Jamie, of her saying the _words,_ of every moment her soulmark has grown warm around Jamie. She thinks of every stolen glance and touch and conversation that’s led them up to this moment, and she puts a hand over her soulmark.

“Saw it last night, Poppins,” Jamie says, grabbing her shirt.

“Wait,” Dani says, and then moves to see Jamie’s soulmark. It’s the most gorgeous color, and the writing is the prettiest cursive she’s ever seen. It gleams against Jamie’s skin, and Dani reaches out to touch it again. It warms under her fingers.

Jamie’s smiling again. It makes Dani’s heart melt. “How long have you known?” Dani asks, hand still on Jamie’s shoulder.

“About you being my soulmate?”

“Yeah.”

“A while. I figured it out way after you did, but I suppose I’ve always had this… feeling.”

“Feeling?”

“Yeah.” Jamie doesn’t elaborate. “When did you get your words?”

“The morning before I broke up with my ex-fiance,” Dani says. “I knew he wasn’t my soulmate. The words just appeared, pretty much confirming that he couldn’t be mine.” 

“Why didn’t you say anything? After I said the words to you? Most people would’ve confessed right there and then.” Jamie pulls the shirt over her head, and inquirefully looks at Dani.

“Uh… I guess I was afraid. Afraid that you were my soulmate, but I wouldn’t be yours.”

“Ah.” Jamie lies back down and pulls the comforter up to her chin, snuggling into the bed. “Soulmates are a pretty complex thing. Had my head spinning for a while, too.”

“When did you get your words?” Dani asks, fondly looking down at Jamie.

“A day before you got here,” Jamie says. “Then you arrived, and well, I felt like it was quite stupid to be hopeful about it, yet I somehow knew.”

“Then why didn’t _you_ say anything, after you knew?”

Jamie flashes her a crooked smile. “Because, Poppins,” she says, grabbing Dani’s hand under the blankets, “soulmates aren’t found, they’re _made_ . We _made_ whatever this is happen. The universe didn’t have shit to do with it.” She rubs her thumb over Dani’s palm. Dani feels everything in the room at once, the joy of Jamie’s smile, love and safety and warmth and comfort and happiness. She leans in and softly kisses Jamie, and then gets up to get dressed.

Dani looks out through the window, and there she is again. Flora. Dani leaves Jamie and sprints out to get to Flora.

The rest of the day is just like the last. She puts Flora to bed, checking her for a fever every hour, and making sure she’s doing alright. Dani makes up her mind to call a doctor in the morning, after she checks on Flora that night. 

When she steps out of the room, Jamie stands there, in yesterday’s clothes, and Dani feels her heart sing with joy as soon as she sees her. They have a brief conversation about psychologists, and Jamie’s experiences with them, and Dani finds herself wondering if Jamie can stay the night.

“I should go,” Jamie says. “Change my clothes, at least.”

“Oh,” Dani says, but she can’t help but smile, “you could… come back.”

A grin plays at Jamie’s lips. “Tonight?”

“Yeah. Tonight,” Dani says, feeling her heart soar as Jamie smiles that gorgeous crooked smile at her again.

“I don’t know, Poppins. I don’t know, you’ve got your hands full.”

Jamie’s right, and Dani knows it. Yet, she can’t stop falling for Jamie, wanting to be in her presence, wanting her. She just wants to be so close to Jamie.

“Well I’m gonna be up all night, checking on her, anyway,” Dani says, still hoping that Jamie’ll agree to stay. She finds herself drifting closer, wanting to kiss Jamie’s smile.

“Good night,” Jamie says, soft but definitely, “just good night.”

Still, Dani shifts closer. Jamie catches her hands. “There are other nights,” she says, looking Dani in the eyes, “and there will be other nights.” Jamie is definitely leaning in, and Dani wishes she could keep this moment forever.

“You promise?” she asks, and Jamie leans in all the way, kissing her tenderly and with passion. Jamie laughs into the kiss, and Dani smiles as they break apart.

“Promise.” And then Jamie turns to go, leaving Dani in the hallway outside of Flora’s room.

Everything is ruined after Jamie leaves. Disarray and chaos falls all over the manor, and it feels like the worst situation Dani’s ever been in. Everything she had experienced with Eddie had been _nothing_ compared to the unreal events unfolding in front of her.

Rebecca Jessel and Peter Quint are there, _ghosts_ , and it really freaks Dani out. Where they take her, tie her up, she can see words written on the back of Peter’s hand. They’re inky black, and Dani can’t make out what they say. What she does know is that the matching black words on Rebecca’s collarbone are surely their soulmarks.

They’re ghosts, yet they have soulmarks.

Dani can’t stop struggling, screaming against her gag to somehow cut free. The _children._ Peter Quint is most certainly going to try and hurt the children, and Dani has to do something to save them. The next few minutes are a blur, mixed in with voices and tears and screams. Something happens. She hears it. Peter merges into Miles, and Rebecca into Flora.

“It’s you, it’s me, it’s us.”

The words ring in her ears, over and over and over again.

Before Dani knows it, Miles/Peter has just told Flora/Rebecca to kill her. She quivers in fear in front of Flora, and it’s the greatest relief when Flora turns out to be just Flora, not Rebecca. Rebecca tells Dani to take Flora and _run,_ run as far away as she possibly can from Bly.

As Dani’s running, she thinks about Jamie. What will happen of them? She just wants to see Jamie, to be safe in her arms, and to leave this haunted mess behind. Her _soulmate._ It feels selfish to think about Jamie while she’s running with Flora in her arms. but the thought of Jamie is the only thing that is keeping Dani from collapsing into a heap on the floor.

“Miles!” Flora screams. She wants her brother, but this can’t be happening— they’re so close to making it out—

A cold hand grabs Dani’s neck and the next thing she knows, she’s being dragged away. She’s blurring in and out of consciousness, trying to piece together what’s happening, trying to hold onto the thought of Jamie.

She doesn’t remember what happens next. All she hears is Flora, pleading with the Lady of the Lake, and then the Lady of the Lake drops Dani. She picks up Flora instead, and the nightmare isn’t over. Flora is being taken to the lake, where the Lady will surely kill her—

Dani bolts after them as quickly as she can, determined to do anything to save Flora. The Lady of the Lake is wading into the water, clutching Flora tightly. Flora screams for help, and Dani screams back. They’re deeper into the water now, and the Lady is about to take Flora under.

Dani does the only thing that she can think of. She thinks back to when Miles had merged Peter Quint, the ghost, into him. The words. She screams them as loud as she can. “It’s you!” The Lady of the Lake keeps walking. Dani gasps for air. “It’s me! It’s _us!”_ She shouts as loudly as she can, and the Lady of the Lake stops in her tracks.

And just like that, she disappears. She accepts the invitation and merges into Dani. Dani doesn’t register it at all in the first few minutes. She’s more concerned with going after Flora, saving her, and then _Jamie’s_ there, somehow, diving in after them. Jamie reaches Dani and Flora, wrapping them up in her arms. She presses her forehead against Dani’s, and Dani feels a bit of warmth through all of the cold. 

That’s it. It all ends. Suddenly, Dani’s got the Lady of the Lake lurking somewhere inside of her. The children’s Uncle Henry is back. Hannah is gone. Whatever strange curse was on the manor is lifted.

They’ve got to go, she knows. Dani can’t stand staying at the manor, and she’s glad that Jamie is offering to come with her. It’s a few days after all that happens, and Dani is trying to pack, but she can’t stop feeling the Lady of the Lake. She tells Jamie, with tears running down her cheeks, and she’s so grateful for Jamie, who sits down right next to her and listens.

“Do you want company?” Jamie asks solemnly. “While you wait for your best in the jungle? Do you want company?” She reaches out and offers Dani her pinky. Through her hot tears, Dani looks over at it. Then, she slowly lifts her own pinky and latches it with Jamie’s.

Jamie leans down and kisses Dani’s knuckles. A pinky promise kiss, and it’s decided. They’ll go wherever they’ll go, together.

“You alright, Poppins?” Jamie asks as they get into the car to leave, after having said their goodbyes to Henry and the children.

“Yeah,” Dani says, and she means it. As long as Jamie’s there with her, Dani is going to be alright. 

They stop at a diner, later, to get something to eat, and Dani partially feels like she wants to cry, maybe out of relief, or maybe it’s just the ocean of feelings overwhelming her. Jamie is right there for her, holding her hand and making sure she’s alright.

As long as they’re together.

Jamie talks about what they should do next; where they should go and what lies in their future. It’s unbearably painful for Dani to hear, but she smiles anyways as she looks at Jamie, because Jamie is just so incredibly perfect. 

But she’s planning ahead a few _weeks_ , as far as to Christmas, and Dani feels a pang of sadness inside of her. She doesn’t know if they can even make it to _next_ week, not with the Lady of the Lake still inside of her. 

Dani longingly looks at Jamie, as Jamie talks of seeing snow. She wants it, so badly with her, to go to Vermont and see all of the snow in the world, but she doesn’t know how much time they’ll have. Dani wants it all. She wants all of the time in the world with Jamie, all of the love and knowing glances and quiet moments.

Jamie catches her eye. “Doesn’t have to be Vermont,” she says quickly.

“No, it’s not that,” Dani says, looking down at the counter. She’s about to cry, she can feel it. “Snow sounds nice. It’s just… I don’t think we should, you know, plan Christmas.” She says it as gently as she can, as to not let down Jamie’s hopes. If there’s one thing Dani can’t bear, it’s making Jamie upset. All she wants is Jamie's smile.

Jamie’s smile is what she gets. “One day at a time,” Jamie reassures her. “It’s alright. One day at a time is fine by me.” Her eyes sparkle with happiness as she looks at Dani. “As long as those days are with you, Poppins,” Jamie says, sending a spark through Dani’s heart, “one day at a time is what we’ve got. It’s what everybody’s got when you get down to it.” Jamie speaks so emphatically; her voice is a calming anchor in a storm. Dani smiles back at her, so incredibly in love. And it’s enough.

The days turn to months. Dani is so overwhelmingly happy. She learns to live with the Lady of the Lake, until some days, she doesn’t even notice the presence. It’s just her, going on little adventures with the love of her life, and it is truly the most wonderful life ever. She thinks she could really get used to this, but every once in a while, the Lady of the Lake stirs inside of her, as a reminder that nothing is permanent. 

They do end up going to Vermont, after all. The snow doesn’t steal the show for Dani, instead, she’s more focused on watching Jamie’s cute reactions to all of the snow and scenery. She listens as Jamie tells her all about evergreen trees, and simply can’t get enough of her soulmate’s beautiful voice.

The months turn into more. With time, they pool together enough money to buy a small space, and then turn it into the most gorgeous flower shop. Dani sees it in Jamie’s eyes, the love she has for the place, and Dani couldn’t be happier. 

They grow accustomed to the feelings of their soulmarks, of knowing when the other is close by through the warmth of the words on their skin. It’s all Dani could have ever dreamt of, to be with her soulmate, to be alive and in love.

Before Dani knows it, a year has passed. She’s taken a whole trip around the sun with Jamie, and she’s still here, still herself. They build up the flat above the shop into a lovely little home, with plants and paintings decorating every corner of space. It’s the best feeling in the world, to wake up next to Jamie every morning, to feel her soulmark light up warmly against her skin every time Jamie smiles at her or lays her head in Dani’s lap. She’s so hopelessly in love with Jamie, and she is so fucking grateful to the universe for her. Jamie is her most important person, her soulmate, her _everything._ Dani simply can’t imagine living without her.

One afternoon, Jamie walks in, and turns over the sign at the door to _closed._ She walks over to Dani. “I have something for you,” she says, and brings out a moonflower. Jamie delicately sets it on the counter, and looks up at Dani.

Dani stares at it. She remembers the night in the woods, when Jamie had taken her to the moonflowers and poured her heart out. She looks at the moonflower and then back up at Jamie, her heart absolutely swelling with love and commitment and everything else in between.

“Is that a moonflower?” she asks softly.

“Yeah,” Jamie answers, looking down at it.

“They’re really rare, you know,” Dani says, thinking back to what Jamie had said, over a year ago. _"sometimes, once in a blue goddamn moon, i guess, someone, like this moonflower, just might be worth the effort."_

“I’ve got a problem,” Jamie says, looking at her quite seriously, “Or rather, _we’ve_ got a problem, Poppins.”

Dani’s soulmark dances underneath her blouse. “Oh, no,” she says, the corners of her mouth turning up.

“You see… I’m not sick of you,” Jamie says. Dani gazes at her, love lighting her heart on fire. “At all,” Jamie continues, “I’m actually pretty in love with you, it turns out. The universe was right, when it stuck us together.”

And then they’re both smiling, and Dani steps out from behind the counter to kiss Jamie. She leans forward, and they walk back mid-kiss, breaking apart to look towards the window. Dani kisses her again, leading her towards the back and up to their flat.

One year became two years, and two became three. Three, four five years become an endless time of love and happiness and passion and _forever._ There is peace within Dani’s heart, _finally,_ all because of the gardener who she fell in love with, those years ago at Bly.

And then, the peace breaks. The Lady of the Lake appears again, in place of Dani’s reflection. It’s jarring, to be reminded of the horrible piece of her life, after so many years of peace and contentedness. Dani blinks a few times, and just like that, it’s gone. It’s just herself in the window.

In her heart, Dani knows that they’ve got less and less time. The Lady of the Lake is coming back for her. She needs to make the most of the time she’s got less with Jamie, so she goes out and buys a beautiful golden ring.

“Dani, why is there a—” Jamie looks at her, fingers smudged with dirt as she holds up the ring that Dani had put into the plant.

“Here’s the thing,” Dani says, feeling the words rising up from her heart, “you’re my best friend, and the love of my life. And I don’t know how much time we have left. But however much it is, I want to spend it with you. And I know we can’t technically get married, but I also don’t really care. We can wear the rings, and we’ll know. And that’s enough for me, if it’s enough for you.” She looks back at Jamie, feeling tears welling in her eyes.

Jamie is smiling at her, and through her own tears, Dani can see tears forming in Jamie’s eyes, too.

“I reckon that’s enough for me, yeah,” Jamie answers, grinning widely, and Dani laughs. Jamie pulls her in close and kisses her, and they let some of their tears slip down as Jamie hugs her and laughs.

It’s the best feeling in the world really, to be with the love of her life, but it’s also a solemn one because Dani knows that they don’t have forever. However much time it is, though, she wants it with Jamie.

They visit Owen at his restaurant. He’s happy for them, and as they sit down and talk and laugh, Dani can’t help but to miss Hannah, and to miss all of the times they had sat down and talked in the kitchen of Bly Manor. Owen tells them of the children, and how they’ve absolutely forgotten everything. Dani sometimes wishes to forget all of it too, but at the same time, it’s all brought her closer to Jamie, so she doesn’t really know _how_ to feel about it.

“Let them be,” Owen says. “Let them live their lives the way they _should,_ without anything hanging over them.”

Dani wishes those words could be true for her and Jamie. She wishes that they would live their lives the way that they should, without the Lady of the Lake hanging over them like a glooming sign of despair.

She’s washing the dishes later, in their flat, when the Lady of the Lake appears in the water. Dani stumbles back, and the plate leaves her hands and shatters into a million pieces on the floor. Jamie’s right there, instantly by her side, and Dani tells her that the Lady of the Lake is _back._

“It’s okay,” Jamie says, pulling her close, “we’re going to be okay.” And Dani lets herself believe it, even if it’s just for a moment.

It starts getting worse. She finds herself in the bathroom, staring down at the water in the tub without any memory of how she got there. Jamie rushes in, pulling her up, anchoring her back from her nightmares.

“Do you see her?” Dani whispers fearfully.

“I only see you,” Jamie says, holding Dani tightly in her arms.

Dani breathes in slowly. She stares down at the tub as she talks to Jamie, exhaustively telling Jamie that she’s so _tired,_ that she’s fading away and they’re losing time— 

“If you can’t feel anything,” Jamie says in a shaky voice, “then I’ll feel everything for the both of us. But no one is going _anywhere._ ” She’s firm as she looks Dani in the eyes, and Dani clutches onto those words for the rest of the night, trying as hard as she can to believe that Jamie is right.

The night is unrestful. The Lady of the Lake haunts her dreams, demanding for her debt to be repaid. She sees Jamie, she sees the Lady of the Lake, she _is_ the Lady of the Lake, and suddenly, she’s awake.

Her hands are so close to Jamie’s neck, so close to _hurting_ her and dragging her away, just like the Lady of the Lake did. She can’t do it. A tear spills out of Dani’s eye as she tugs her hands away, pleading with the Lady of the Lake inside of her. _Please_ , she thinks, _no. Not Jamie. Please. Take me. Don’t hurt her._

The Lady answers. It’s more of a surreal feeling, really, but it’s an unspoken language that Dani somehow _understands._ And suddenly, she knows what she has to do. Dani looks over at Jamie again, her peaceful, sleeping face, and feels the tears pool into her eyes. She can’t bear to leave Jamie, but it’s what she has to do.

She turns away, towards the nightstand, and tears a blank page out of one of the books sitting there. She won’t ever get to finish reading the book. Tears drip down her face as she scribbles a note to Jamie, hoping that the short amount of words will convey everything she feels.

And then she’s out of the door, letting the Lady of the Lake guide her away.

Before she knows it, Dani is standing in a familiar setting. Bly Manor. The air is cold and empty, and there is a hollow feeling in her chest. Her soulmark warms, almost as if it’s trying to fill the hole in her chest, but the Lady of the Lake pushes away the feeling.

Dani’s legs are taking her towards the lake. The cursed lake, the one she’s about to spend the rest of eternity at the bottom of. She can’t stop crying, letting the tears fall down her cheeks and water the grass below her feet. She keeps moving. The water of the lake is cold as it hits, but Dani can’t feel it. She can’t feel anything at all.

All she can think of is _Jamie_ , Jamie, the love of her life, her wife, her soulmate. 

And it’s Jamie’s voice she hears as the Lady of the Lake carries her deeper in.

“Dani!” It’s Jamie, screaming in the distance.

Dani can’t turn back. The Lady of the Lake simply doesn’t allow her to. She keeps sobbing and walking deeper in, till the water is up to her neck. Dani hears a splash come from behind her, and she so desperately hopes that Jamie will _save_ her. Her soulmark burns in the icy waters, but the Lady of the Lake urges her on.

And just like that, Dani is completely submerged in the water. She can’t see, she can’t feel anything—

A hand grabs at her arm, and she can hear a screaming voice, sound completely obscured by the water. 

_Jamie._

Dani lets herself sink, but Jamie grabs her with both hands, determined to not let her go. Jamie clings to her, wrapping Dani up in her arms. Dani feels her soulmark burn hotter and hotter, till she finally opens her eyes. In the murky blues of the waters, she sees Jamie in front of her. Jamie’s flannel is falling off of one shoulder. Her soulmark shows.

_I’m so glad you stayed_

It presses against Dani’s ribcage, against her own soulmark, and the two seem to glow brightly against the underwater darkness. She feels _everything_ , the love and joy that they had shared over the last few years. She remembers their first meeting, the words that Jamie had said— 

_Chin up, Poppins._

Dani clutches for Jamie, and they rise up above the water, tangled in each other’s arms. Dani cries, and cries, and cries, pressing her face into Jamie’s shoulder. Jamie holds her tightly and starts swimming to the shore, and Dani lets her. There’s nothing stopping her anymore.

The Lady of the Lake is gone. Her presence is of no more in Dani, and it feels like the utmost heaviest of burdens has been lifted from her shoulders.

“I love, I love you,” Jamie murmurs, as they exhaustively lie on the shore together. She presses her lips to Dani’s knuckles, and Dani feels that surge of electricity inside of her, filling her heart with warmth. 

“She’s gone,” Dani says, and Jamie looks up at her. “The Lady of the Lake. She’s gone now.”

Jamie wraps her up in a hug. “What were you thinking, Poppins?” she says softly into Dani’s shoulder, “I could’ve lost you. Please, don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I won’t,” Dani promises, looking up at her. She offers Jamie a small smile, clutching her hand and running her thumb over Jamie’s fingers. “Thanks for saving me.”

Jamie cups Dani’s face and presses their foreheads together. “I love you, Poppins,” she murmurs, and then moves in to kiss Dani. Dani kisses her back, feeling Jamie smile against the kiss. And then they break apart, both laughing and hugging and dwelling in the fact that they are together, and safe.

Things are peaceful from then on. Living without the Lady of the Lake is freeing. Dani is ever so grateful for Jamie. They watch sunrises together, plant flowers, and go on little adventures. They see snow, every single year in Vermont for many, many years. They travel all around the world, but somehow always end up back at the flower shop and the little flat they’ve owned. They visit Owen at his restaurant. The children grow up too— they end up going to Flora’s wedding. Little Flora, all grown up now, and she’s got no memory of anything that happened at Bly.

Jamie tells them. She says it’s a ghost story, as they all sit in front of the fire, and she tells them all about the haunting of Bly Manor. She tells them of Dani’s story, making eye contact with her soulmate every few minutes, sharing knowing smiles. It ends happily, though, and at the end, Dani kisses Jamie’s forehead as Flora hangs back.

“I liked your story,” Flora says to Jamie, “but I think you set it up wrong, in the beginning.”

Dani and Jamie both look at her, and then to each other.

“Is that so?” Jamie asks, a smile blooming over her lips. Dani gazes at Jamie, at her beautiful smile, and she almost can’t believe that so many years have passed. They’re still here, she is still herself, and the Lady of the Lake is gone. They’re at Flora’s _wedding,_ and they still have their whole lifetime ahead of them.

“Yeah,” Flora nods, “you said it was a ghost story. It isn’t. It’s a love story.”

Dani smiles widely, gazing at Jamie. It’s _their_ love story. Her soulmark warms underneath her dress, a constant reminder of her soulmate and their love. They are as happy as they ought to be, living their lives the way they should, without anything hanging over them.


	2. ii. jamie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok help. these chapters were both supposed to be abt 5k words each. max. i have an exam tomorrow which i haven't studied for so everyone should just be glad that daylight savings exists and i have an extra hour ok. i want everyone to read this and think. "WHAT THE FUCK?? DID I JUST READ?" because that was my headspace while writing it <3

**ii. jamie**

Jamie has no reason to believe in love. Why should she, anyway? The universe shouldn’t be able to control everyone like puppets. She doesn’t suppose she has a soulmate, and she quite frankly doesn’t care.

Everyone around her talks of the soulmarks, the soulmarks that are supposed to tie you to your one true person for the rest of your life, but Jamie knows it’s all messed up.  Her parents had soulmarks. It was all bullshit, though, because they hadn’t worked out at all. Her brother's never had a soulmark. And neither has she. 

She doesn’t care for a soulmark. Jamie hates that the universe tries to be the deciding factor in everything, in relationships and people and love. It’s like a game really, to the universe, of how many people can be hurt and left messed up all because of the fucking soulmarks.

Jamie expects to just get on with life, live in the gardens it’s taken her so long to grow, and be content with life. Her plants are all she really needs; she prefers them to people, anyway. Plants don’t have confusing emotions. They’re not hard to talk to, or to care for. Jamie pours all of her love into her plants, and she expects it to be that way till the day she dies.

So when her soulmark first appears, she doesn’t even notice. How can she, anyway, when the soulmark winds around her shoulder instead of being somewhere perhaps more noticeable?

Jamie would be lying if she said she hadn’t felt something change, though. She had definitely felt it. 

She had just _chosen_ to ignore it.

Perhaps she felt as if getting her soulmark doomed her to a fate worse than loneliness, and that she now had a fate full of hurt and confusion. That’s all other people brought. Hurt and confusion. However, the little girl inside of her can’t help but to  _ wonder _ about it, to be hopeful that maybe, just  _ maybe _ , she could have a fairy tale love story of her own that just might end in happiness. 

So she looks at it. The words are a stunning dark purple, and it takes her a while to turn and read them in the mirror. When she does, however, Jamie just stares at the mark for what seems like forever.

_ I’m so glad you stayed. _

The purple letters are loopy and beautiful, and they absolutely tear her heart out. Jamie collapses into a sobbing heap, right there in the bathroom, and has to take the rest of the day off from Bly Manor. She doesn’t even know why she’s crying, as she gets into her car and drives away, but it feels as if everything has changed. 

Jamie can’t stop thinking of the cursive purple letter, branding her for life. She can’t stop crying, even as she gets to her flat and runs into the bathroom and pulls off her shirt to stare at it again.

Then she tries scrubbing it away. It doesn’t work, of course, but she scrubs at it anyway with bar soap that dwindles down to a little stick. It doesn’t change anything. The skin around her soulmark is raw red, but the dark purple of the letters still glare at her, and she gives up.

Jamie falls asleep out of mere exhaustion. She can’t bear to think of what her fate will bring, and she doesn’t want it. The universe has already fucked with her enough, and she doesn’t need the burden of a soulmate on top of it all. 

Jamie wakes right before nightfall, after a dreamless couple of hours of sleep. Her shoulder hurts, but as she looks at it, the words are still there. They sit on her skin, mocking her—

_ I’m so glad you stayed. _

Jamie wonders what they  _ mean. _ Does she stay somewhere? Why is someone glad if she’s stayed? Who would  _ want _ her to stay anywhere? The questions run around her mind, over and over and over again, until she finds herself getting dressed and heading out.

Jamie knocks on the door of Owen’s mum’s house. She’s positive he’ll be there, and he feels like the only person she can talk to right now. He comes to the door, looking harried, but the annoyed expression on his face drops as soon as he sees Jamie.

“Jamie!” he says, pleasantly surprised, stepping outside, “what brings you here?”

“I don’t know,” Jamie says, crossing her arms with irritation, “Just wanted company, I suppose.”

“Alright,” Owen says, and they walk in silence. Before long, they’re standing at the edge of the woods, in a clearing with logs and a stack of firewood in the center. Jamie sits down first, and then Owen follows suit.

“Is there something you wanted to talk about?” Owen asks gently, and Jamie shrugs. “Come on, there must be something,” Owen continues, but Jamie just looks up at him and shakes her head slightly. 

They sit in silence for what feels like forever, even though it’s only a few minutes. The thought of her soulmark keeps nagging at Jamie, till she can’t take it anymore. She turns to Owen. “Soulmarks. Soulmates. Why did the universe just fuck up with everyone?”

“Oh!” Owen raises an eyebrow, “you wanted to talk about soulmates?”

Jamie shrugs.

“I don’t know. It’s sort of a beautiful thing, when you think about it, though. Knowing that you’re tied to another person in this strangely beautiful way… I wouldn’t call that the universe fucking up,” Owen says.

“Of course  _ you _ wouldn’t call that the universe fucking up,” Jamie mutters. “You’re all hopeful and shit.”

“Well, why aren’t  _ you _ ?”

“Soulmates are shite, Owen. Half of them don’t even work out anyway. You’d be incredibly lucky to actually find your soulmate, and even luckier if that relationship works out between you and whoever the universe sticks you with.” Jamie picks at the log she’s sitting on, gazing out to the woods in front of them.

“The universe doesn’t just stick you with people.”

“Then how do you explain the fucking soulmarks?”

“Okay, sure,” Owen shrugs, “but the universe doesn’t have anything to do with what happens next.  _ We _ decide that. You don’t just find your soulmate and call it a day, you work together and you  _ make _ a relationship.” 

“Well, that’s stupid,” Jamie mutters. “You’ve got your soulmark, then?”

Owen pulls up his sleeves to reveal silvery letters, but Jamie doesn't take the effort to actually read them.

“And that doesn’t, like, bother you at all? To have those words there, not knowing who’ll say them to you or when?” Jamie stares at his letters, trying to mentally compare them to her own. His are smaller, longer, different in color, and in a different font. 

“Nope.” Owen rolls his sleeve back down. “That’s the fun in  _ living _ . Sure, it might be something someone’ll say to me sometime, but I don’t let it take over my entire life to figure out who it’s going to be. It’ll just happen, if it’s going to.”

Jamie nods and looks down. Maybe she has a little bit of rethinking to do with her own soulmark.

When she gets home, later that night, Jamie looks at her own soulmark again. The redness of her shoulder has faded away, and all that remains are the loopy purple letters. She runs her fingers over them, and then decides to forget about the words. They’re there, sure, but she won’t let them take over her life.

Jamie gets up early the next morning she has to work. She’s had a solid day to think about her new soulmark, and in the end, she decided that it won’t change anything. She’s got a little extra love to give to her plants that morning, and she pours her heart and soul in along with the water she gives to them. Jamie could spend all day in the gardens. She doesn’t want to be anywhere as much as she wants to be outside. 

It had started from running away, whenever the hell she could. She’d run and run and run to the edge of whatever town she was in at the time, through trails in the woods, to anywhere and everywhere her legs could take her.  Then, she had noticed the  _ life _ around her. It was everywhere, in the towering trees and the grass and the flowers and the little spring clovers. They were miracles of life, and Jamie fell in love. She brought home a small flower plant, nurtured it, watched it bloom, and realized just how much love she had to give. From that day, Jamie grew a garden, filling the hole in her heart with beautiful flowers and plants and life.

Jamie doesn’t even realize it when half the day’s gone by. She gets up to go to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, and her eyes fall on a young woman, sitting at the table when she walks in. She doesn’t keep her eyes on the woman too long, but her mind fuzzes up with memory. Hannah had mentioned something about a new au pair a few days ago but it had gone completely over Jamie’s head, as Jamie was too preoccupied with her roses.

Jamie walks to the sink and quickly washes her hands, eager to eat. She expects that she’ll get to know the au pair, sooner or later, but she doesn’t quite want to get too friendly. Not with her current soulmark situation. Jamie takes a seat at the table as Owen passes her a plate, and lunch goes by just like that. She doesn’t share a single word of direct conversation with the au pair, and she’s fine with it. 

The au pair does mention something concerning, of a man on the parapet. It confuses Jamie a bit, throws her in for a loop, but she disregards the comment as she continues eating. There’s no way someone could have gotten onto the parapet; they would have had to go through the house first.

There’s a strange feeling Jamie gets from the au pair. Dani is her name, as she finds out from Owen, and there’s something intriguing about her. Jamie just can’t quite place it, but it feels like she’s known Dani, like Dani has been a part of her life since forever. It’s an unusual feeling, not one Jamie’s ever felt before, but she tries not to think about it as she heads back to work. She’s not trying to force anything with anyone just because of her soulmark, after all. 

Maybe she’d like to get to know the au pair better, though. There must be some reason that Jamie feels so naturally comfortable around her, and she’d like to find out why.

The next day, most of the morning goes by without Jamie even noticing. She doesn’t see or hear of the new au pair, until she goes inside and sees Hannah and Owen at the table.

“The new missus put the children to it,” Hannah says.

“Yeah,” Jamie mutters, but then looks back up at Hannah and Owen. They seem serious. “For real?” she asks, a bit intrigued to see it for herself.

And Jamie does see it for herself, sitting next to Hannah in a garden chair and sipping tea as the children pull away at the weeds. There’s something so satisfying about it, to see the children finally up and about, working away. She finds out from Hannah that the children locked Dani up in a closet, and it’s an eyebrow-raising fact to know while seeing Dani have them work so hard in the garden.

“You clean up after them. Owen feeds them, and Rebecca…” Jamie stops speaking, her mind lingering on the previous au pair. “Rebecca coddled them. But this one,” she looks back at Dani, a bit impressed, “This one’s got them doing hard labor.” 

Her soulmark seems to grow  _ warm, _ as she lights a cigarette, but Jamie doesn’t think too much of it and pins it on the smoke of the cigarette and the heat of the sun. Owen sits down, and Jamie suddenly wants to know what  _ he _ thinks of the new au pair. She wants to know what everyone thinks, as if she’s gathering thoughts and opinions on Dani just to find out more about her.

“Though may be a bit too pretty,” Jamie comments, gazing at the au pair. Dani kneels in the dirt next to the children, and Jamie feels her heartbeat quicken, just the slightest bit. “What do you think, Owen? Do you think she’s pretty?” Jamie asks, satisfaction growing as she watches Owen get tongue tied. She laughs, and teasingly nudges him with her foot. “He’s tongue-tied. He can’t answer,” she chuckles as Owen goes beet red.

“It’s just that romances don’t fare well at Bly, do they?” Hannah brings up, and she’s got a point. Jamie thinks back to Peter and Rebecca, and the tragic fate that awaited them. They were soulmates too, but cursed till the end. The thought throws out any hope Jamie’s got of her soulmate being at Bly and working out.

“Great work, you lot, keep it up!” Jamie calls out towards the au pair and the children, desperately trying to keep her mind off the topic of soulmates.

Half an hour later, she’s heading to the kitchen to fix the crack in the ceiling that Hannah had mentioned, when she hears sobbing. Jamie walks closer, partially confused, till she sees Dani standing behind a shrub and sobbing.

“You alright?” Jamie asks, truly bewildered. Dani’s sobs cease with Jamie’s voice, and Jamie sets the buckets down. She thinks back to the part where Hannah had told her about the children locking her up in the closet, and she feels a pang of sympathy for the au pair. Jamie knows the children aren’t easy, and Bly Manor as a whole isn’t easy, so she can’t help but feel a bit badly for Dani. The au pair seems to be going through it, and Jamie wonders if she can help.

“Kids,” she starts, “run you ragged.” She doesn’t even know what she’s going to say, but the words seem to take a form of their own as she lets them slip from her mind. “Well, people really. All of them. That’s why I prefer plants. Easy to get along with. And if I find I don’t like one,” she says, leaning forward to get a look at Dani, “if one looks at me kind of funny, I can always just…” she mimes cutting her throat. 

The au pair doesn’t seem to have much of a reaction till Jamie speaks again. “So if it’s child-rearing advice you’re after—”

Dani laughs through her sobs and hiccups, and Jamie lets a small chuckle of her own slip out. She has that sudden desire to make Dani laugh again, so she keeps going. “I cry maybe three, four times a day around here? Five, if I’m really being honest with myself. How else do you think I keep all of these fucking plants watered?” She turns towards Dani, pleased to see a smile creeping up on her face. “With my endless well of deep, inconsolable tears.” There’s something about Dani’s smile that makes Jamie feel suddenly warm, and she finds herself aching for that feeling of warmth again. It’s not something she’s ever really felt.

“Right,” Jamie says, feeling slightly flustered at the feeling. She picks up her buckets and starts heading back to the manor. “Back to it, then. Chin up, Poppins.”

With those words, her soulmark-bearing shoulder grows warm. Jamie dearly drops the buckets as she feels it, and she blinks widely in horror as the pleasant feeling grows. Jamie makes a run for it. She pushes aside the thought of soulmates and beelines to the kitchen to work on that crack as quickly as she can, quite surprised when there turns out to be no crack after all. 

When she heads home that night, Jamie can’t stop thinking of the new au pair. Somehow, she knows it in her heart that they’re somehow  _ connected. _ Dani feels like someone who’s been there her whole life, and she’s only now putting the pieces together.

She keeps catching Dani’s eyes in the kitchen. Jamie doesn’t even know  _ why _ , it’s as if every time she looks over, their eyes meet and Jamie can’t help but smile at her. She tries to keep her cool as a warm, buttery feeling takes over her. She feels like her heart is going to melt every time Dani looks at her, and Jamie doesn’t know if she can exactly handle it.

And then Miles digs up her fucking roses before they’re ready to be cut, and all of the confusing emotions come bubbling to the top. She doesn’t know what to do, or how to feel, so she kneels in the dirt and stares at the remnants of her hard work. “Little shit,” she mutters, her hands trembling, “Little  _ fucking _ shit.” Jamie can feel tears welling up in her eyes, and she looks up to the sky and shakes her head to keep them away.

“Hey, he’s just a kid,” Dani says from behind her, and Jamie’s nostrils flare. She’s about to cry.

“I’m going to kill him,” she says furiously, standing up. “I swear to  _ god _ —”

“No,  _ hey, _ ” Dani says firmly behind her, “they’re just a few flowers.” And suddenly, Jamie’s shoulder is on fucking  _ fire. _ Her eyes widen just a bit as she realizes that Dani is tightly gripping her shoulder. The only thing separating Dani’s hand from Jamie’s soulmark is a few layers of fabric. Jamie almost yelps, barely managing to keep it together as the words etch in her mind.

_ I’m so glad you stayed. _

Jamie grits her teeth and discards the thought, choosing to ignore the fiery feeling in her heart. She’s not sure if it’s  _ passion _ , or maybe even  _ love _ , but then she looks back down at the scattered roses on the floor and her anger returns in the midst of confusion. 

“Oh, sure,” she says, her voice rising an octave as she angrily turns to face Dani, “well that’s fine then.” She glares at Dani with everything she has, hoping that the anger will make the perplexing thought of the universe and fucking  _ soulmates _ go away.

“A little boy cut a few flowers, what’s the big deal—”

There’s a strange feeling of warmth rising up in Jamie’s throat as she glowers at Dani. “They weren’t  _ ready _ to be  _ cut! _ ” she’s leaning in now, shouting vehemently as Dani stares at her. Jamie keeps the tears down, though. The last thing she needs is to cry in front of Dani about a few stupid fucking  _ roses. _ She tells herself that, over and over and over again.  _ They’re just roses. There will be plenty of more roses. _

Jamie knows she’s not upset about just the roses. The roses are just the tip of the iceberg. Everything is piling up, the appearance of the soulmark, the arrival of the au pair, the strange connection between them, the feeling that she might be Jamie’s soulmate, and the fact that Jamie doesn’t want to accept that the universe is setting her up with someone and she might have no say in it.

She has to admit, though, the au pair is pretty, and smart. She seems very good with the kids, and the fact that she’s terrible at making tea is sort of endearing.

Jamie casts the thought aside and stares at Dani, and then she realizes just how close she’s standing to her. Jamie slowly backs away and turns, staring back at the flowers on the ground. She takes a deep breath. Jamie didn’t mean to scream in Dani’s face. None of this is  _ Dani’s  _ fault. Not the flowers, not the soulmates. It’s not Dani’s fault at all, and it’s not fair for Jamie to be yelling at her.

“Look,” she says, turning back to Dani. “I have a way of doing things, and I don’t like people messing about in my garden.” Jamie’s mind is going a million miles per hour, contemplating how to properly apologize to the au pair, but Dani gently cuts in.

“No, you’re right,” she says, and Jamie stares at her, slightly shocked. “You’re right. I’ll talk to him.”

Jamie looks down, somewhat impressed by Dani. “Of course,” she nods, trying not to make eye contact because it would just make everything so much worse to feel her heart flutter in anticipation. She takes a deep breath and looks up in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Look, can we just go back to the bit where you were the one acting mental and I had to talk you down?”

It’s enough, because she gets a laugh out of Dani. The fluttering feel in her heart doesn’t stop, not even when Dani walks away. Her soulmark still tingles slightly, and Jamie smacks her hand over her shoulder to get it to stop.

It doesn’t. 

Thankfully, as the day goes by, Jamie can’t exactly focus on the soulmates possibility, because things get a little bit concerning when Dani identifies the man she’s been seeing around as Peter Quint. Jamie doesn’t end up going home till much later that night, staying after Hannah tells her that Peter Quint might be at the manor. If Peter fucking Quint is anywhere around the grounds, she swears to  _ god _ that she’ll shoot him with her rifle. Jamie prowls around the grounds, and then she’s faced with a blinding light that turns out to be Dani’s flashlight.

Again, feelings rise to the surface as Dani yelps and points a poker stick at her. Jamie quickly lowers her rifle and watches as Dani stares at it. “Shot plenty of rats with it,” she says, “and I’ll be more than happy to add Peter fucking Quint to the tally.”

“Not a fan, I take it?” Dani asks as they start walking together.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Jamie says, and she means it. She can’t describe in words, the pain she had felt when she had found out about Rebecca. Rebecca didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve to be cursed with the soulmark typing her to Peter Quint, she didn’t deserve the universe fucking around with her life, she didn’t deserve  _ any _ of it.

When the two head back into the manor, Owen suggests that they stay at the manor that night. The kids seem thrilled at the prospect of a sleepover, and so Jamie decides to stay. The children fall asleep shortly afterwards, leaving the rest of them to sit around the fireplace and talk about Peter Quint.

Hannah tells Dani about Peter and Rebecca being soulmates shortly after, and Jamie rolls her eyes even at the word  _ soulmate _ . It’s such a stupid word, and she hates thinking about it, even while Dani sits so close to her as they discuss Peter Quint. 

“Soulmates are shit,” Jamie says softly, staring into the burning fire. “The universe messes with people too much. Mixing up love and possession… soulmates are more of a curse than a blessing.” She looks up and sees Dani intently staring at her. Jamie raises her eyebrows. “What about you then, Poppins? Got a soulmate?” She’s been dying to ask the question ever since she felt that Dani  _ might _ be hers, and now she’s got the perfect opportunity to find out. Jamie doesn’t know what to expect, and she’s ninety percent sure that Dani’s answer is going to cause her another restless night.

She doesn’t care, though. In the moment, Peter and Rebecca and all of the cursed soulmates don’t matter. Jamie wants to find out if Dani is really her soulmate, and she wants to hope that the universe will let her be happy.

Dani seems a little bit taken aback. She looks at Jamie in surprise. “Uh, I— I… um,” she stutters, “it’s sort of complicated.” Dani’s gaze drops to the floor, and that’s the end of the soulmates talk.

At least, that’s what Jamie assumes. Later, Dani sits right next to her on the couch, looking down at the polaroid of Peter and Rebecca. “People do, don’t they,” she says ever so softly, gazing into Jamie’s eyes, “mix up love and possession?”

The way Dani’s looking at her makes Jamie want to melt. Against her inner instincts, she prays to the universe that Dani might be hers, keeping steady eye contact with the au pair. Jamie swallows before answering, afraid her heart just might burst if she keeps feeling this way. “Yeah, they do,” she answers, drawing in the bright color of Dani’s beautiful eyes. 

“I don’t think that should be possible,” Dani whispers, her voice a melody singing right into Jamie’s heart. “They’re opposites, really, love and ownership.”

Jamie nods. In the moment, it feels like they’re meant to be. Jamie wants to hate it, but she can’t get enough of the feeling. Her shoulder warms slightly, and Jamie so badly wants to blame it on the heat of the nearby fire, but she knows it’s her soulmark.

Jamie falls asleep on the couch that night, and sleeps rather well considering the conversation she and Dani had. She sees a sky full of stars in her dreams that night, as well as a moonflower in full bloom. 

The next day, she’s still in the same clothes and her mind is still spinning at a million miles per hour. She can’t stop thinking about Dani, and the possibility that they might be soulmates. Jamie just wants to be close to Dani; she wants to be near her. Jamie wants more of that feeling, of the warmth of possibility and love that seems so close to her grasp.

She ends up staying late that next night, too, when Flora and Miles decide to put on another storytime play. Jamie takes a bottle of wine along with her, passing it to Owen as they watch the children tell some sort of story. She has to admit that it’s nice. Dani looks fully invested in the play when Jamie looks over, and Jamie has to bite back a smile.

She might be falling in love with Dani, soulmate or not.

The phone rings, and everyone looks at each other, certain that it’s Peter Quint calling the house again. Jamie hates Peter Quint  _ so _ much, so she quickly gets up and heads to the phone. “Sorry, Pete,” she says, “bad news, but she’s  _ dead _ .”

It’s not Peter. It’s Owen’s neighbor, delivering the news of his mother’s death.

And then Owen gets up to leave, absolutely shell-shocked, and they all follow him out. Jamie can see the pain in his eyes, his inability to verbally communicate anything at all to them at the moment, and her heart hurts so badly for him. Jamie can’t imagine losing someone like that, someone so important to her.

She hopes she never has to go through loving someone and then losing them like that. Maybe it’s better to never love at all, rather than to love and then to go through the terrifying pain of loss. Loss can outweigh love sometimes, and Jamie knows this better than anyone.

Owen leaves, and Hannah heads away, leaving Jamie and Dani standing in the drive of Bly Manor. Jamie blinks as she watches Owen’s car pull away, and then she’s reminded that she should probably head home as well. There’s no doubt that Owen will want her to come to the funeral, and Jamie better rest before then.

She glances at Dani and then steps forward to her car, pleasantly surprised when Dani walks with her. She’s slightly ahead of Dani, but as they near her car, Dani steps up right next to Jamie.

“I’m so glad you stayed,” Dani says in her soft, mesmerizing voice, and Jamie stops in her tracks.

All at once, a thousand feelings surge through her. Her soulmark burns against her skin, like a vessel of warm energy keeping her from absolutely losing it. Her heart bubbles up with something almost like the feeling of _relief_ ; she’s so glad the words on her shoulder finally make sense to her. She looks up at Dani, slowly studying every aspect of her face. Dani looks a little hopeful, absolutely beautiful in the moonlight. She’s like a flower that Jamie can’t help being drawn to.

Jamie swallows. “I am too,” she says softly, answering the words on her shoulder, the words that Dani’s just said to her. Dani’s just solidified everything— they are certainly soulmates, and Jamie’s not sure of what to do with this information. She steps forward, turning her back to her car. She hesitates for a moment, and then slowly spins and looks back at Dani.

She almost wants to lean in and kiss Dani, but she holds herself back, because she doesn’t want to ruin anything between them. It’s too early. Jamie is still processing the soulmates realization, and she just can’t kiss Dani. Not yet.

But Dani reaches out, taking her hand. She holds it just for a moment, gently stroking her thumb over Jamie’s hand, and then pulls away. Jamie stares at her, the feeling of warmth inside of her intensifying. She might just  _ really _ be falling in love with the au pair, her  _ soulmate. _

Jamie turns to open her car door. She looks over at Dani through the window, and she can’t help but smile. “Who the hell knew?” she says softly, and then she’s off.

Jamie doesn’t sleep much at all that night. She’s too busy with everything; with thinking about Dani, and helping Owen with everything. Owen still won’t say anything— he’s too numb with shock to even process. He simply nods and shakes his head as they arrange the funeral, and it’s hours before he speaks to her at all.

Jamie will be at the funeral tomorrow. Owen needs her there. She calls Bly and asks Dani to come with her, and Dani says yes. Then, Jamie sets off to her own flat, in the middle of the night, to get the few hours of sleep that she might have left.

The next day, Jamie is at the manor by noon. She makes her way up the steps and to Dani’s room, her heart quickening with every step. When Jamie finally reaches the room, she knocks on the door a few times. “You decent?” she calls.

“Come in!” 

Jamie opens the door to see Dani turn around in a black dress. It’s an interesting dress, Jamie has to say, but she doesn’t have much time to think about the dress because Dani goes “oh!” right as she sees Jamie. “You look—”

Jamie can feel heat slightly rising to her face. “I can scrub up when I need to,” she shrugs, turning around to close the door, effectively avoiding eye contact with Dani. “The funeral starts at four. Owen said we should get there early.” She walks over and sits down on the bed bench, looking up at Dani.

“Okay,” Dani says.

Jamie’s still staring at Dani’s dress. “It’s quite a dress,” she finally comments, raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah, it’s the only thing I had in black,” Dani says in a small voice, and it’s all Jamie can do to not let out a laugh. “I hate it.”

“It does look a  _ bit _ like you’re trying to scandalize the village,” Jamie grins, looking Dani up and down. “Can’t say I  _ fault _ the general principle.”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to let Owen down,” Dani says, and Jamie notices that Dani’s looking a little flustered. She also looks rather tired, leading Jamie onto the fact that maybe Dani isn’t alright to go to a funeral right now.

“He won’t mind. Honestly. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Jamie says quickly. She doesn’t want to pressure Dani at all; she just wants to make sure that Dani is alright. 

Maybe this is what it feels like to really care about someone. She’s never had this feeling before. It’s strange, a little disconcerting, but somehow comforting all the same. Jamie looks up to see Dani looking at her.

“Really?” Dani asks in a small voice.

“He said as much,” Jamie nods, “he was pretty clear.”

“That’s a relief,” Dani sighs, putting her hands up in her hair. Dani’s hair is messy and so gorgeous, and Jamie sort of just wants to run her fingers through it. It looks so soft and pretty, but Jamie tears her focus to what Dani’s saying. “I had a funeral in my own life. Not so long ago.”

Jamie stands up, her movement almost instinctive. She walks over to Dani, who’s stopped speaking. “Hey, Poppins,” Jamie says softly, “it’s your day off. I promise, I don’t  _ need _ you to be my date to Owen’s mum’s funeral.” She smiles at Dani, glad to see Dani return it.

Soulmates are truly a strange thing to Jamie. Just a few days ago, she was absolutely apprehensive at even the concept. She dreaded her soulmark with every fiber of her being, but now— well, now everything’s changed, hasn’t it? Dani’s come into her life, made her mark, and now Jamie sort of  _ wants _ the whole soulmates concept. She wants it so badly for herself, for Dani to be her soulmate because it just feels right in all of the ways something can be right.

Jamie gets the appeal of soulmates now.

“Okay,” Dani says, slightly turning, “then can you help me get this thing off?”

Jamie’s eyes widen. “Blimey,” she mutters, her heart skipping a beat as a silly panic flits through her. 

“No, seriously,” Dani elaborates, “the, uh, zipper?”

“Right,” Jamie says, trying to swallow down her smile. She gently moves towards Dani’s back, and the fleeting feeling of electricity overtakes her as soon as they touch. It’s slightly unnerving, but Jamie continues to pull at Dani’s zipper, as if she hasn’t felt anything at all.

Dani suddenly gasps and jumps up, and Jamie quickly moves back. 

“Did I pinch you?” she asks in alarm, taking in Dani’s shell-shocked face. Dani looks pale, like she’s just seen a ghost.

“No, I’m sorry,” Dani says, facing Jamie again.

“Alright,” Jamie says a little skeptically. “Well, I’ll be back in a few hours, and if I find out you’ve not been relaxing, there will be serious consequences.” She looks Dani right in the eye as she says it, feeling a swell of delight as Dani smiles at her. And then Jamie turns and leaves, looking back at Dani one more time as she closes the door behind her.

Jamie heads to the funeral early to help Owen out, but truth be told, her mind is wrapped around Dani. She can’t stop thinking about the warm feeling her soulmark keeps giving off whenever she’s near Dani. It’s rather nice, and Jamie just can’t get enough of it.

She has a lot of time to think during the funeral, and Jamie keeps going back to Owen’s words, when he had told her that soulmates aren’t just  _ found _ , but their relationships are  _ made. _ She thinks about it long and hard, thinks about Dani, thinks about every moment that’s landed her right here, and then she makes up her mind.

She wants to pursue whatever it is with Dani. Jamie wants to build a relationship with her; she wants to commit to  _ trying. _ As Jamie sits at the funeral, her mind returns to the dream she had a few nights ago— the  _ moonflower. _ She had planted some a few months ago, and they’re right in the season of bloom.

Moonflowers aren’t an easy flower. In fact, they’re rather difficult, but Jamie’s put in so much effort with them, because seeing them bloom is worth it. They’re worth all of the effort in the world, even though each flower will only survive a single night. Dani seems a bit like a moonflower to her— worth the effort. Dani is worth all of the effort that Jamie’s about to put into building something with her, and the realization is just a little shocking to Jamie.

When she returns to the manor, she finds everyone in the kitchen, cooking together. Jamie sees Dani look up at her, and her lips turn upwards as she grabs a chair to sit. Jamie starts pulling off her shoes, and spilling out thoughts about the funeral. “Hate to say it, but on some level it must be a relief,” she says, referring to Owen’s mum’s death.

“Did he seem relieved?” Hannah asks.

Jamie considers it. “No,” she says, “but I’d be relieved. Losing yourself like that.” She pulls at the strings of her shoes, looking up at Dani as her mind goes a million miles per hour. “Being worn away a little bit every day. Just shoot me. Put me out of my misery.”

And she means every single word as she says it, because absolutely nothing could be worse than finding yourself slipping further and further away from reality. She wouldn’t ever want it. Death would be better.

“It’s not fair on anyone,” Jamie says thoughtfully, and then takes out her earrings. She looks up while she’s doing it, and her eyes meet Dani’s. It feels as if there are a million unspoken words between them, hanging tensely through the air, just waiting to be said out loud.

Jamie wants all of it so badly, as Dani gazes at her from across the kitchen. She takes in a deep breath, feeling the warmth of her soulmark again, and she finds herself wondering if Dani has a soulmark, and if it feels warm like Jamie’s does.

When Jamie looks up again, it’s because Dani has just yelped and jumped up in front of the sink where she had been washing dishes. It’s exactly what had happened in the morning, when Jamie had been helping Dani with her zipper. “Poppins, you alright?” Jamie asks, looking at the au pair with concern.

“I’m fine,” Dani says, but she doesn’t seem very fine as she quickly rushes out of the kitchen. Jamie’s eyes follow her as she goes, wondering what exactly is up with her soulmate.

Exactly a minute later, there’s a commotion in the foyer, and Jamie quickly jumps up to see what’s happened. She finds Dani clutching a poker stick, facing Owen in the open doorway.

“What happened?” Jamie asks, getting a good look at both of their faces. They look stunned to see each other, and Dani still has a tight grip on the poker stick.

“I thought he was Peter Quint,” Dani breathes out.

“Which is ridiculous,” Owen mutters, “I am much better looking.”

Jamie reaches out towards Dani, who still seems to be in shock as she stares at Owen. “Hey, stand down, Poppins,” Jamie says softly, right as Hannah and the kids walk in.

Dani comes to her senses right then. “Oh my god,” she says, still rather flushed, “I am so sorry, Owen.”

“Owen, you prat,” Jamie says, still looking at Dani with worry, “what are you doing leaping out on innocent Americans? You’re meant to be at a funeral.”

“Uh, I just needed to leave, and I got into the car, and I didn’t know I was coming here until I arrived,” Owen stammers out, looking at Hannah. “I should— I should go, shouldn’t I?”

“Supper’s almost done,” Hannah interrupts gently, and leads Owen and the children back to the kitchen, leaving Dani and Jamie alone in the foyer.

Jamie reaches for the poker stick and carefully takes it from Dani’s hand. Dani looks so scared, so  _ worried _ as Jamie turns to put the poker stick back by the fireplace. She wonders if there’s any way she can make Dani feel better.

When they head to supper, Jamie sits next to Dani. Dani seems a bit better. “I’m so sorry,” she profusely apologizes to Owen, over and over again. Jamie looks over to Dani and can’t help a smile. Dani looks so pretty, and an enamoring feeling rushes through Jamie when she thinks about the fact that they’re soulmates. 

Jamie reaches across the table for a bread roll, ever so conscious of just how close she is to Dani. Her soulmark glows with warmth as she realizes that she’s brushed her arm against Dani, and Jamie can feel blood rush into her cheeks. She sits down quickly, and tries turning her attention to the conversation.

A minute later, Miles shockingly demands a glass of wine. Jamie looks up at him and tries holding in her amusement, lifting her own glass to her lips. She’s curious to see how this will play out, and if it’ll be as entertaining as she senses it’ll be.

“You know, I disagree,” Dani says firmly.

“My mum used to water mine down. Gave me half a glass,” Owen says.

“Yeah, my mom too,” Dani sighs, and Jamie raises an eyebrow as she looks at the au pair. “Except without the water.”

Jamie smiles at her, and then Miles has an outburst and Dani immediately stands up. 

“Uh-uh. No,” Dani scolds, pointing to the doorway. A grin plays at Jamie’s lips as she looks up to Dani, rather impressed. Dani is taking no bullshit, and Jamie admires that. “Come on. Both of you,” Dani says to Flora and Miles, and Jamie looks down and smiles to herself again.

She’s falling completely, idiotically, and easily in love with Dani, and it’s perfectly splendid. 

“You know,” Hannah says thoughtfully as Dani storms after the children, “I do like that young woman.”

Jamie grins, because  _ she does too. _

Later, as Hannah and Owen go outside to start a bonfire, Jamie excuses herself and heads to the bathroom. She peels the cloth of her black dress off from her shoulder, and takes a long look at the purple words etched into her skin.

Jamie doesn’t hate them anymore, not like she used to.  _ I’m so glad you stayed _ doesn’t mock her anymore, instead, it’s a comforting echo of Dani’s voice. She’s grown to love the words, and to accept that maybe they’re not a curse. She slowly traces the words with her fingers, feeling her skin grow warm.

That’s the thing— there’s this warmth that brings her soulmark to life whenever Dani is near her, or whenever Jamie is simply thinking of her. It’s a pretty feeling, one Jamie wants to keep close to her heart and hold onto for the rest of her life.

She waits in the foyer for Dani to finish putting the kids to bed, and when Dani finally arrives, Jamie hands her a coat. Dani looks at her questioningly. “We’re all outside, and you’re going to join us,” Jamie says, leading her out to the bonfire.

Jamie sits down on a tree stump next to Dani, accepting a bottle that Owen passes to her. The air is cold against her barely covered legs, but the fire offers a bit of warmth. Jamie takes a swig as she looks into the fire, thinking about everything and nothing at all.

Oh, how different things had been just a few weeks ago. She hadn’t expected a soulmate at all, and she had hated the very idea. She used to think she would rather die than be cursed with a soulmate, but now she realizes she had it all wrong. Now, she lets herself fall into the fantasy with hope for it all, hope that she and Dani will break through the ceiling and be soulmates who aren’t cursed by the universe.

She looks up to see Dani in deep thought. Jamie closes her eyes for a moment, taking in the atmosphere, and then opens them again. She finds herself talking about bonfires and their origins. “We’re heading into the dark, and we have to hang onto each other,” Jamie says, looking over to Dani. Dani’s still staring into the fire, in deep thought. “So we can only carry so much.” Jamie means it as an offering to Dani, her shoulder for Dani to cry on, her comfort and support through whatever Dani is going through. She hopes Dani will take it.

And then they’re all standing and offering their own bones to the fire. Jamie talks of Lord and Lady Wingrave— “their kids really miss them. Nothing can fix that.” She looks over to Dani, and lifts her bottle. “But here’s Dani Clayton,” Jamie says, and it certainly catches Dani’s attention. because Dani looks up just so slightly. “She’s a bit of a weirdo, but she’s a lot stronger than she thinks,” Jamie continues, her soulmark alive with warmth. “If anyone can bring Flora and Miles back to themselves, she can. I’m glad she’s here.”

Jamie really means it.

“What about you, Poppins?” Jamie asks gently as she sits back down, and when Dani says no, she doesn’t push it.

And a few minutes later, she’s walking with Dani, back to the greenhouse. They carry blankets back together, and Jamie smiles as Dani looks back to see Hannah and Owen talking. Jamie walks into the greenhouse and sits down on the couch, patting the empty space next to her for Dani. She passes Dani a bottle, and Dani takes a swig.

“I’m not going to ask if you’re alright, because I don’t like being lied to,” Jamie says bluntly, looking right at Dani, who seems to be avoiding eye contact. “So, what’s wrong?”

Dani starts talking, and Jamie finds herself listening intently, and growing a bit angry at Dani’s ex for having the audacity to haunt her. 

“I was his soulmate,” Dani murmurs. “I was his soulmate, but he wasn’t mine. It was— it was one-sided, and it’s all my fault. All my fault he died.”

“Hey.  _ Hey _ .” Jamie sees the tears brimming in Dani’s eyes, and she reaches one hand out to take Dani’s. Again, warmth blossoms through her body, and Jamie can hear the words run through her mind again.  _ I’m so glad you stayed. _ She slowly blinks, eyes still on Dani. “That’s not your fault, Dani. That is  _ not _ your fault. Okay?”

Dani slowly nods, looking up at her.

“Is he here now?” Jamie asks curiously, and Dani looks around before telling her no. “Good. Cause, you know, I’ll sort him out for you.” She smiles slightly at Dani before turning to look around the greenhouse. “Oi! Dead boyfriend! Give it up mate! It’s over!”

When she turns, Dani has the smallest smile on her face, and she looks a bit better. Jamie sighs. “Seriously, Poppins. How are you still standing?” And then she’s moving closer to Dani, in an effort to comfort her, let her know that she  _ isn’t  _ crazy, and it isn’t her fault. “Look, I know what it feels like, to feel like you can’t fine—”

Jamie doesn’t get to find the rest of her words, because Dani leans in and kisses her, turning her whole word alight. Jamie’s soulmark burns under the layers of clothes, and it seems to warm the entire air around them. She kisses Dani back with vigor, thinking  _ finally, finally finally finally.  _ It’s exactly how Jamie had imagined it, yet so different, but incredible in all of the ways possible. It’s electricity within her heart, it’s the comfort of blankets during a thunderstorm, it’s the excitement of riding up a rollercoaster. 

They break apart, and Jamie gazes into Dani’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

Dani looks over Jamie’s shoulder, and whispers, “yes.”

Jamie smiles, cupping Dani’s face in her hands, running her thumbs over Dani’s cheeks. “Thank fuck,” she murmurs ever so quietly, and then brings their lips together again. Her hands find their way into Dani’s soft hair, and it feels like the most heartfelt kiss Jamie’s ever experienced. The kiss is so long yet so short, and when Dani gasps and pulls away, Jamie finds herself craving more. She wants Dani, but she knows Dani’s being plagued by her own ghosts and demons.

Jamie wants to beat up Dani’s ex’s ghost so badly, but she keeps it together. “It’s my fault, I’m sorry,” she says, staring down at the floor. “You were literally just telling me that you weren’t up for this.” All of a sudden, the warmth in her shoulder fades away, and Jamie fears the worst. She can’t look at her soulmark right now, so she takes a deep breath and gets up, leaving Dani alone in the greenhouse as she walks back to the bonfire. She can’t quit cursing herself for being so rash, so  _ stupid _ , even as she drives Owen home and returns to her own flat.

Once she’s in the comfort of her own bathroom, Jamie pulls off her shirt, not knowing what to expect. She closes her eyes and then opens them again, peeking at her shoulder. 

_ I’m so glad you stayed. _

The words are still there.

Jamie breathes out with relief, immensely grateful that the universe hadn’t decided to take the mark away. She’s still stuck with Dani, and she’s fucking glad about it, because she’s sure that they’ll figure it all out. Somehow.

Jamie takes the next few days off to think about things. She has to be back at the manor by Thursday, and early, to make sure the plants are watered and doing well. Until then, she has a while to think about things.

Jamie spends most of the time lounging around in her flat, staring out of the window to the open sky, thinking about the night in the greenhouse. The kiss— she hopes Dani really meant it. Jamie can’t stop thinking about Dani’s not-soulmate-dead-ex-fiancé. She wonders what he had been like, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that she is  _ angry _ with him. Jamie may not know him, but no one has the right to haunt Dani.

She sure hopes they’ll find a way to mend things. Jamie had said it was all good, but in reality, she doesn’t know  _ what _ it is. She hopes it’s alright, but Jamie sort of knows that she’s going to go and try and mend things with Dani on Thursday.

For the rest of her time off, Jamie heads out for runs, watches the sunrises and sunsets, and then, on Wednesday, she finds herself at Owen’s place. She knocks on the door slowly, unsure of if it’s a bad time, because she knows he’s taking a few days off as well.

He comes to the door with flour smeared over one cheek, dusting the top of his hair, and shaking out of his apron. “Jamie,” he says, “I was just—”

“Is this a bad time?” Jamie interrupts, “because I don’t want to bother you at all or anything—”

“No, no,” Owen assures her, “come in.” He steps aside and lets her in, shutting the door behind her. “I was just baking, well, bread. My mum’s recipe, actually. So, what brings you here? Something on your mind?”

“Can’t I just hang out with a friend?” Jamie smirks, following him into the kitchen and sitting down at the table. He brings the bowl of dough to the table and sits down across from her.

“Really?” Owen raises his eyebrows at her.

Jamie rolls her eyes. “Fine. There might be something on my mind.”

“I figured.”

“What? Why?”

“The night you drove me home from the manor,” Owen says calmly, “you seemed to have a rather  _ lot _ on your mind. I figure you’re still thinking about all of that stuff?”

Jamie frowns, trying to rake her mind back to that night. She remembers every detail of being in that greenhouse with Dani, every single feeling that had shot through her body when they had kissed, the exact moment Dani had yelped and pulled away, but everything after that seems fuzzy in her memory.

“You were blackout drunk,” she chooses to say carefully, “how the fuck do you remember anything I said?”

“I don’t always forget things,” he shrugs. “You had quite the bit to say about Dani.”

Jamie’s eyes widen ever so slightly as the rest of the night returns to her memory. She  _ had _ said a lot about Dani in that car drive home, assuming Owen wouldn’t remember any of it. Instead, she had been the one to forget, somehow, through the midst of everything.

“How much do you remember?” Jamie asks Owen skeptically, squinting at him as his lips turn up into a knowing sort of smile. “Oh, god,” she mutters under her breath, as his smile grows wider.

“You really like her, don’t you?” is all Owen says, and the drive starts to replay in Jamie’s mind. She had… well, she had certainly let everything off of her chest in the moment. She can recall telling him that they had kissed, it had been a damn good kiss, and how  _ disappointed _ she felt when Dani simply hadn’t been up to it.

“I thought you didn’t believe in love, and well, here comes the new au pair, who  _ absolutely _ sweeps you off of your feet—”

“Shut  _ up, _ ” Jamie orders, a little more firm than she means to be. She sighs, looking over at him, and then she looks down at the table, unclasps her hands, and slowly peels off her jacket. Jamie throws it over the chair next to her, looking up at Owen, who’s eyes seem to scrutinize her.

Underneath, she’s wearing a flannel. Jamie unbuttons the flannel, revealing a black tank top underneath. She tosses the flannel along with the coat, as cold air stings at her bare arms. Jamie turns slightly, so that the purple words on her shoulder are just barely visible to Owen.

“Oh my god,” Owen says, hands still in the bowl of dough, leaning forward to get a better look. “Is that—”

“My soulmark, yeah,” Jamie says defiantly, crossing her arms.

“Holy shit.”

“That sounds about right, yeah.”

“I thought you never wanted a soulmark.”

“Yeah, I thought so too.” Jamie reaches for her flannel, pulling it over her shoulder. “That was, until, fucking  _ Poppins _ had to show up.”

“So it’s her then, isn’t it?”

“Of course it’s her,” Jamie says, “I wouldn’t be such a fucking mess over her if it wasn’t. I wouldn’t have felt the way I did when I kissed her.”

Owen’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “You  _ kissed _ her?!” he exclaims, his jaw dropping open with what seems to be either ecstasy or astonishment, Jamie can’t really tell. “You fucking kissed her,  _ blimey—” _

“Wait,” Jamie frowns, “you didn’t remember me telling you that?”

“No,” Owen grins, “just remembered you saying a lot about how you liked her, and how much you wanted everything to work out between the two of you. Nothing about a kiss, really.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Jamie mutters under her breath.

“Tell me  _ everything _ ,” Owen begs, and after a few minutes of him pleading with her, Jamie finally gives in. She spends the rest of the evening sitting at Owen’s kitchen table, telling him anything and everything about Dani, laughing and leaning into the conversation.

The next morning, Jamie is up bright and early at five in the morning. It’s still dark when she heads to Bly Manor, but the sun starts peeking out when she heads to water her flowers and potted plants. There are a few flowers that are ready to be cut, in ruffled shades of faded pinks and purples. They’re absolutely beautiful, and Jamie knows what to do with them at once.

She doesn’t get far with her thoughts, as she hears someone step into the greenhouse behind her. Jamie doesn’t turn around. She feels her soulmark warm over, and she instinctively knows who it is.

Dani clears her throat from behind, and Jamie slowly turns, fighting back the smile that’s threatening to brim up to the surface.

Dani holds two mugs in her hands, and Jamie immediately has to turn back to her plants. She smiles softly, secretly, so glad that Dani has somehow miraculously shown up so early in the morning. She glances over to the flowers again, and turns away from them.

“Don’t usually see you this early in the A.M.,” is what Jamie manages to get out.

“I know that you start early on Thursdays,” Dani says, and Jamie raises an eyebrow. Dani  _ knows _ when Jamie comes into work? Jamie can’t help but feel slightly flattered at the notion. She looks up from the plants to Dani, and Dani holds up the mugs. “I thought I’d bring you some coffee,” Dani says, walking towards her. 

Jamie’s heartbeat quickens with every step Dani takes. She’s finding it harder and harder to lose her cool, turning back to the plants to try and sweat it out before Dani notices. “You yanks and your coffee,” Jamie mutters, pulling a smile back into her mouth and turning back to Dani.

“You might like it,” Dani says, so Jamie takes the mug and lifts it to her mouth.

It’s awful. A bitter mix of what tastes like coffee beans and actual soil melt into her mouth, and she makes a face and instinctively opens her mouth again and lets the horrible coffee fall back into the mug.

“I’m not the best at coffee, either,” Dani says in a flustered voice. Jamie sets the mug down and picks up a watering can instead, making her way over to another row of plants that need watering.

“How’s your week been?” Jamie asks, a little eager to know of what Dani’s been up to since the last time they saw each other. She wonders if Dani’s thought about the kiss as much as she has, and if they’re actually all good.

“It’s been okay,” Dani starts, and Jamie clings to all that Dani tells her about her week, wondering if Dani’s going to bring up the kiss at any time.

“Did you wake up just for this?” Jamie finally asks, looking up from the plants again to take in Dani’s appearance.

“No,” Dani says defensively.

Jamie raises her eyebrows. “You just waited for me to come back,” she accuses.

“I knew that you were coming back today,” Dani stammers, “but no… no particular reason.”

Jamie’s heart swells with affection. She doesn’t buy it at all— she’s nearly a thousand percent certain that Dani’s gotten up this early just to see her. It certainly gives Jamie a little ego boost, and her smile crawls back to her face as she looks at Dani. “Are the kids awake?” she asks.

“No, no, they’re asleep—”

“So you just got up with the sun,” Jamie says, enjoying herself quite a bit in the moment, “and you’re tiptoeing around the kitchen, making awful coffee by yourself, just to come say hi at six in the morning, for no particular reason?” She leans forward, taking in the blush that’s arisen to Dani’s cheeks, feeling particularly pleased with herself. “Poppins, you  _ flirt, _ ” Jamie grins, spinning to check on a few other plants.

Dani quickly falls into step behind her. “Fine,” Dani says imploringly, “I don’t like how we left it.”

Jamie raises her eyebrows. “How did we leave it?” she asks softly, gazing at Dani.

“Wrong,” Dani blurts, “and I wanted to start doing something right. I thought I’d start with coffee.”

As much as Jamie’s enjoying the moment, she can’t help but feel a little bit of irritation, thinking of a relationship moving forward. Sure, Dani’s her soulmate, but Jamie’s still a little hesitant with the whole soulmates thing. There’s a good chance they might not work out, and Jamie isn’t sure she’s down to take the risk, with both of their hearts on the line.

She needs to make sure Dani is  _ actually _ sure, and that Dani is absolutely alright to move forward. “You sure about that?” Jamie asks testily, eyes on Dani. Dani’s cheeks redden again, and Jamie closes her eyes for a moment before opening them again. “Every time I think you might be sure,” Jamie says, moving back to tend to other plants, “you’ve got this irritating habit of jumping back, like you’ve just seen a scary bug.”

Jamie wants it  _ so _ badly. She wants to seize the moment and sweep Dani off of her feet, hold her close,  _ kiss _ her, give Dani her whole heart and learn to truly love with her.

“I like you,” Jamie says quietly, “but I also like my life the way it is. Nice and boring.” Truth be told, Jamie’s quite tired of it. Sure, nice and boring had been good for her since she had gotten the job at the manor, and it had really helped her settle, but now she’s got a taste for adventure, love, and  _ Dani. _

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to disrupt that,” Dani says as Jamie tends to another plant. And then Dani does the  _ worst _ British accent that Jamie’s ever heard, and it takes every fiber of her being to not burst into straight-up laughter.

Dani suddenly asks Jamie if she wants to have a drink, and Jamie stops in her tracks. “You and me…” Dani says, “we could get a boring old drink, in a boring old pub, and see where that takes us.”

Jamie lives right above the pub that Dani is talking about, and she’s pretty sure Dani knows it.

_ Sly. _

“You know I live right above that pub, right?” Jamie asks, confronting Dani right away. “Told you that already, didn’t I? Got a little flat, right above the boring little pub.” She grins as Dani turns her head with a subtle smile.

And then Dani’s looking over her shoulder and out of the window, and just like that, the au pair’s smile drops right off of her face and turns to shock. “Flora,” Dani says, and Jamie turns around. Sure enough, the child is standing outside, seemingly in a daze.

The conversation is forgotten, as soon as they run outside after Flora. Jamie carries her back to the manor, still wondering if they should go for a drink.

Dani stays inside for the rest of the day, and Jamie keeps to the gardens. She carefully digs at roots and trims shrubs, trying to keep her mind off of Dani but finding her thoughts wandering to her anyway. Jamie is thrilled at the prospect, really, of Dani wanting to try, but the little ounce of fear behind her nips at her heels and clingingly protests the idea.  _ Soulmates, _ it hisses,  _ never work out. _

Jamie sighs, looking up at the manor. Dani is in one of those rooms, somewhere, and Dani is willing to give this a shot, so why is Jamie so hesitant? She doesn’t want to get hurt again, she doesn’t want to hurt Dani, and the thought of heartbreak scares her so much, for some reason. She wants to try. She wants to try so badly, but Jamie wants to do it  _ right _ .

When she gets into her car to go home, Jamie takes one last look at the manor, thinking of Dani, and then starts driving. She can’t really wrap her mind around what exactly she wants, but she knows that she  _ really _ wants the words on her shoulder to grow with warmth again, and love, and every feeling that Jamie craves so dearly.

Maybe they  _ should _ get a drink.

But at the same time, Jamie wants to do this sober, without alcohol muddling any part of her brain. She wants to go out with Dani and remember  _ everything _ , every little smile and piece of conversation, and she just wants it all with Dani. Dani is worth the effort. There aren’t many things worth the effort to Jamie— just her plants, really. But there are some plants that take more effort, and some that are easier.

_ Moonflower. _

Dani is like a moonflower, perhaps. Moonflowers are hard, but they’re worth every bit of effort that goes into them. They’re beautiful, really, and rather enchanting even over the short amount of time they bloom. The moonflowers should be in bloom about now. Jamie hasn’t really checked on them, as she’s been too concerned with everything at the manor with the additional soulmates mess weighing on her.

Maybe they shouldn’t go for a drink. Maybe they should do something else, something that doesn't typically shout first date material. Maybe Jamie should take Dani to the moonflowers, as a way of opening up her heart. It would be her way of putting in the effort, and her attempt at trying at a relationship.

Jamie swerves the car in a vigorous u-turn, nearly hitting someone. She curses, and then presses down on the gas as she speeds back to Bly Manor. She knows what she’s going to do. 

As soon as Jamie gets back, she bursts into the greenhouse and finds the flowers she had been looking at in the morning. She cuts them and puts them into a pretty bouquet arrangement, tying them together with a little scrap of ribbon. Jamie takes the flowers and runs towards the manor, eager to find Dani.

She slows her step as she approaches the kitchen, turning the corner to see Owen and Hannah sitting at the table, and Dani reaching over for the tea pot. “Don’t touch that,” Jamie says quickly at Dani— the tea pot is bound to explode sooner or later, if Dani keeps meddling with it.

“I thought you left,” Dani says, looking up at her.

Jamie’s heart starts drumming in her chest as she approaches the kitchen counter. “Made it halfway home,” she starts, swallowing the nervousness rising inside of her, “and I thought, rough day. Maybe Poppins might fancy a little boredom.” She lifts up the flowers and offers them out to Dani.

Dani takes them, and lifts them up to her nose. Jamie grins— she wishes she could capture this exact moment, with Dani’s nose pressed into the flowers, looking all cute and beautiful. 

“They’re lovely,” Dani finally says, looking up at her. “Uh, there was a vase, somewhere here—” she turns around with the flowers and opens a cabinet, pulling out a glass vase and setting it down. 

Jamie quickly moves to take the vase. “Let me help you with that,” she offers, filling it with water and putting the flowers in.

“They would look so pretty right here,” Dani says, and she takes the vase and puts it right in the center of the island. Dani looks at the flowers, and then back at Jamie, and Jamie gives it an approving nod, with a small chuckle.

“So, a little boredom. What do you say?” Jamie asks. Dani smiles, and Jamie takes it as a yes. She instinctively grabs Dani’s hand and leads her out of the kitchen, raising her eyebrows at Owen, who sends her a cheeky smile from the table. Jamie rolls her eyes and leads Dani out, and then they’re off.

They’re walking through the woods, to the moonflower plant, and Jamie hasn’t told Dani where they’re exactly going. She wants it to be a surprise, and for it to all go perfectly. She’s about to open up to Dani and tell her her story, and she’s a little nervous building up to it.

Dani seems to be more nervous. “Where, uh, where are we going?” she asks timidly, following close behind Jamie. Jamie scans the woods with her flashlight. “Are you taking me out here to kill me?”

“Keep talking and I just might,” Jamie says humorously, raising her flashlight again. She catches sight of the moonflowers that she had planted  _ months _ ago, finally in full bloom. They’re stunning against the dark of the night, illuminated by her flashlight and shining with drops of water decorating the petals. Jamie walks closer to them, drawn by the flowers. 

“Wow, that’s beautiful,” Dani says.

“It’s a moonflower,” Jamie says, handing Dani her flashlight and walking up to the flowers. “Bloody hard to grow in England.” She walks over to the few logs in the clearing, and sits down on one.

“Worth it,” Dani murmurs, still looking at the flowers. 

“Is it?” Jamie mutters, as her soulmark grows warm. Fear churns in the back of her head, reminding her of all of the soulmate catastrophes she’s seen, begging her to not add herself to the tally. “This plant only blooms two months a year. Only at night. Each bud only blooms once. These flowers will be dead by morning, and tomorrow night, new buds will bloom, and then they’ll die. In three weeks, this entire plant will be dead.” She looks at Dani as she speaks, who is still looking at the moonflowers.

“That’s a lot of work for a flower that only blooms once,” Dani says.

“That’s what people feel like to me,” Jamie says, finally releasing it into the open. It’s the start of a hundred more thoughts bubbling up inside of her— people and plants and love and effort and care and soulmates and the universe— 

“All of them?” Dani asks, gazing at her through the dark.

“All of them,” Jamie says, wondering how Dani can look so perfect at the moment, in the rain, in the pitch blackness of night. “Even you,” she says, looking her dead in the eye. She looks down and then back at Dani. “Even me. Especially me.”

Dani walks over to the logs and sits down on one adjacent to Jamie’s. She looks at Jamie with such an intensity that Jamie feels compelled to talk more, ever so aware of her soulmark filling the space in between them with warmth.

“So I’d like to take a shot. Why not? So here it goes, okay?” She can feel her heart beat faster at the anticipation of solidifying their relationship, leaning into Dani’s direction as a thousand memories of her life run through her head.

She starts with talking about her parents, her origin. “They were soulmates. But they were wrong for each other, in all of the fucked up ways. She split, leaving him, leaving us. And dad… he spent his whole life 600 meters down, digging for something dead, lumps of dead things, so old and lifeless that they will literally burn, and that was his whole life.” she looks up, pain written all over her face. “There’s not a leaf, not a branch, not a flower in his world.

“He did his best. He spent so long underground that he didn’t know what to do with a kid, let alone three. So we got split up, and I bounced around in foster care for a while. The things I saw…” Jamie shakes her head and takes a deep breath, “I saw firsthand how much the universe fucks with people. First Mum and Dad, then the hundred or so couples that were torn apart because of the soulmarks, or lack of. So I left for London. Hoped I would never get a soulmark of my own. Got into all sorts of trouble.”

Jamie bites her lip and looks at Dani, who seems to be listening intently. Jamie sighs and looks down at the floor, and then tells Dani about starting gardening, and how freeing it’s been. “Plants… you pour your love and effort and nourishment into them, and you see where it all goes. You watch them grow, and it makes sense.” She looks up at the moonflowers again, marveling in the miracle of their short life, at all of the time and energy it had taken for them to even get to this point of full bloom. Jamie stands up and slowly walks to them, peering at  _ her _ hard work. She got the moonflowers to this point, and they had been every bit worth the effort.

“Sometimes,” she says, looking back at Dani, “once in a blue goddamn moon, I guess, someone, like this moonflower, just might be worth the effort.” And then her soulmark burns with feeling, and it all makes sense. Everything makes sense. They have to put in the effort, and the effort is what makes it all worth it. Soulmates  _ can _ work out. They just have to make it work out.

So Dani stands up and walks closer to her, gazing into her eyes and putting a hand on Jamie’s shoulder. She’s so close, so close that Jamie can feel the energy sparking between them. She holds onto Dani’s arm and Dani fiercely leans in, kissing her with all of the enthusiasm in the world, and Jamie feels like she might just drown in the comforting bubble of warmth around them. Rain seems to fall around them, but Jamie only feels Dani.

When she falls asleep that night in Dani’s bed, she can’t stop feeling like all of the pieces have finally come together. Dani’s soulmark— she’s seen it. Printed silver-green letters, over her ribcage that say  _ Chin up, Poppins. _ She distinctly remembers having said it Dani, a while back, before Dani had said her words to Jamie. She looks over at Dani as Dani sleeps, wondering if the au pair had known all along. She must have. 

Jamie doesn’t dwell on the thoughts. She turns over and falls asleep, finally content with everything.

She’s awoken with quite the shock of feeling. Warmth spreads from her shoulder to the rest of her body as she squints through the stream of sunlight coming in through the window. Jamie can feel Dani’s fingertips on her shoulder, right at her soulmark.

“Morning,” Jamie mumbles, turning over to face Dani. She shivers in the cold morning air and pulls the blankets up to her chin as she looks at Dani. “You saw it then, didn’t you?”

“Saw what?” Dani grins at her quite innocently, and Jamie bites back a chuckle.

“The soulmark,” Jamie says, and Dani nods. “You have one too.” She sits up against the pillows and moves her hand to Dani’s soulmark. “Right here.” As soon as she touches it, her own soulmark feels all warm and nice. She smiles gently at Dani and moves her hand away. “Chin up, Poppins,” she smirks, enjoying the look on Dani’s face.

“How did you know?”

“Saw it last night, Poppins.” She reaches down to grab her shirt over the side of the bed, but Dani stops her and gently runs her fingers over her soulmark. It causes Jamie to laugh a little as she picks up her shirt.

“How long have you known?” Dani asks curiously, and Jamie shrugs.

“About you being my soulmate?”

“Yeah.”

“A while,” Jamie says. “I figured it out way after you did, but I suppose I’ve always had… this  _ feeling _ . When did you get your words?”

Dani tells her about getting her soulmark the day she broke up with her ex, and Jamie raises her eyebrow.

“Why didn’t you say anything, then? After I said the words to you? Most people would’ve just confessed right there and then.” She closes her eyes and pulls her shirt over her head, feeling the cool fabric clash against the warmth of her skin.

When Dani tells her that she had been afraid, Jamie nods understandingly. “Soulmates are a complex thing. Had my head spinning for a while, too.”

And then Dani asks Jamie about her soulmark, and asks why Jamie hadn’t said anything.

Jamie grins, because she now knows the answer to this question— “because, Poppins, soulmates aren’t  _ found. _ They’re  _ made. _ We  _ made _ whatever this is happen. The universe didn’t have shit to do with it.”

Dani leans in and kisses her, as soft as ever. Jamie looks at her lovingly as Dani gets up to get dressed, and then there’s an abrupt panic. Flora is outside, wandering the grounds again.

Jamie spends the day at the manor, helping Hannah out with chores and tending to her plants. She doesn’t see much of Dani at all, since Dani’s busy taking care of Flora, but Jamie decides to swing by to see her before heading home. Dani tells her about deciding to take Flora to the doctor in the morning, and Jamie finds herself talking about her own experiences with her psychiatrist, Tamara. 

And then she knows that it’s time for her to go, no matter how much she wants to stay. Jamie doesn’t want to rush this— the last thing she wants is to dive into this headfirst and scare Dani or possibly herself off. “I should go. Change my clothes, at least,” she says.

“Oh,” Dani says, peering right at her, “you could… come back?”

“Tonight?” Jamie smiles at her, even though she knows that she won’t come back. Not tonight. Maybe some other night, but tonight, she needs to think. Besides, Dani is supposed to be busy with Flora, and it would be selfish of Jamie to stay. “I don’t know, Poppins. I don’t know, you’ve got your hands full.”

“Well, I’m gonna be up all night, checking on her, anyway,” Dani says, drifting closer to Jamie. Jamie feels a chill go through her body, with her soulmark warming over her skin as her soulmate gets closer.

“Good night,” Jamie says definitively, “just good night.” She glances down at Dani’s hands for a moment, and then takes them in her own. “There are other nights, and there will be other nights.” There’s a certain softness to Jamie’s voice, one that she’s never used with anyone before except for Dani.

“You promise?” 

Jamie leans in and kisses her, laughing into it a little bit. “Promise.” When she turns to go, she holds Dani’s hands until the last possible second, until she has to let go to leave. 

Jamie gets home to her flat, waters her houseplants, and gets into bed to read a book. She’s not even a single chapter in, however, before something strange starts to happen. Her soulmark starts… malfunctioning? 

Jamie doesn’t understand what’s happening. It sends a cold feeling through her body, and then a shuddering warmth, and then chills. It seems to be calling out to her. She gets out of bed and hurries to the mirror, and it’s… it’s lighter. It’s not a deep purple anymore. It’s going lighter, almost like it’s fading.

A gasp escapes her as she touches it. No,  _ no _ , this can’t be. She’s put so much into it already, so much effort, and she can’t bear to lose all of it. The universe can’t take it away from her, not now, not when she’s fallen absolutely in love with Dani. Her soulmark  _ can’t _ fade.

Yet it keeps feeling cold, and then there’s an urgent pounding on her door. She takes a deep breath and pulls her shirt back on, and then runs to the door.

Owen stands there, shaking. He’s gone pale, as if he’s just seen a ghost. “Jamie,” he breathes, “Something— something’s happened? Do you— do you feel it?” he clings onto her arms like they’re a lifeline, and he looks so scared that all of Jamie’s rational thoughts are turning to fear too. “Something is wrong. Something is wrong,” he repeats, “we  _ have _ to get to the manor  _ now. _ ”

“Yeah,” Jamie nods urgently, “come on, we’ll take my car.”

“Hurry,” Owen pleads, and Jamie dashes to grab a coat. She runs out with Owen, as her soulmark continues malfunctioning, and starts the car as quickly as she can.

“What does this  _ mean _ ?!” she yells as she presses down on the gas, “what’s going on?!”

“I don’t know! The soulmarks…” Owen rolls up his sleeve. “It was so cold. So cold. Bad. A bad feeling. Something’s wrong. My soulmark…” he looks down at his forearm, and Jamie glances to look at his soulmark.

It isn’t there.

She stares in horror, nearly driving the car off of the road. “It’s gone?”

“Hannah,” he simply breathes, and Jamie puts everything she’s got onto the gas pedal.  _ No _ , she thinks,  _ this can’t be happening. _ If Hannah and Owen are soulmates, and his has faded, and hers might fade… something bad is happening at Bly. Something is happening, and Dani is in danger. She just knows it, and she has to get there to protect her; to  _ save _ her.

Something is horribly wrong as they pull into the drive. Jamie slams the brakes, and they get out of the car as quickly as they can. Jamie can hear  _ shouting _ , and it sounds like Dani. She runs with Owen, and then they stumble upon a body on the floor— Henry. She leaves Owen to him as she runs towards the shouts, not knowing what to expect.

Jamie would have never expected to see whatever…  _ this _ is, not ever. There’s someone in the lake. Someone is carrying Flora, deeper and deeper into the lake, and Dani is running after, wading in herself. “Dani!” Jamie screams, as her soulmark flits with cold chills. “Dani!”

The woman carrying Flora doesn’t have a  _ face _ . Jamie’s never seen anything like it.

And then Dani screams, in between sobs. “It’s you!” she shouts, and Jamie frowns in horror as she keeps running. “It’s me! It’s…  _ us! _ ”

The woman turns, and then she’s  _ gone. _ Dani grabs Flora, and Jamie runs with all of her might, splashes into the lake, and makes her way to Dani and Flora.

“It’s us,” Dani keeps repeating, “it’s us.”

Jamie’s heart nearly breaks into two, seeing her so fragile, so scared. Jamie doesn’t know what’s happened. All she cares is that Dani and Flora are  _ safe _ , and that Dani is going to be okay. They’re going to be okay. Whatever was in the lake is gone now. “It’s okay,” she says, “it’s okay. Shhh.” When she looks up into Dani’s eyes, there's an unmistakable change. One of Dani’s blue eyes is now a deep murky brown, and there is pain written all over her face.

Jamie helps Dani and Flora out of the water, and then she hugs Dani ever so closely as Dani gasps and sobs into her shoulder. And then Owen runs to them, wildly and desperately wondering about Hannah.

The sun starts rising when they find her, at the bottom of the well. Jamie can’t say anything— all she can do is try and clutch Owen’s arm to comfort him, crying as they look down at her body. She hugs him, holds him tight, and he has no words.

She doesn’t, either.

Jamie doesn’t know what exactly happened during that night, but she doesn’t press it. Dani’s still recovering from it all, and Jamie just needs to be there to support her. They’re leaving, unquestionably, all of them. They’re all going to leave the manor, and everything is starting to get cleaned up and packed.

Dani is almost finished with her packing, when she explains it in a peculiar way to Jamie. There's… a beast, lurking somewhere inside of Dani, threatening to take her away at any moment. Jamie takes a deep breath as she processes it all, and then she goes and sits down next to Dani.

“Do you want company?” she asks solemnly, “while you wait for your beast in the jungle?” Jamie would do anything for Dani; to have Dani for however long she could have her. She’s not ready to give it all up. She loves Dani, more than anything else in the world, and she wants to be with her, no matter what the complications are. She offers her pinky out to Dani, and Dani takes it.

And they leave, heading far away from Bly, hoping to never look back. It’s the start of their life together, and Jamie looks forward to every single second she had with Dani. She begins drafting out plans in her head, of where they might go and what the might do together, and she tells Dani of them once they reach a little diner to stop for a break.

“Maybe in a few weeks, we could take the train. Get to Vermont around Christmas. Snow could be nice.” Jamie looks up at Dani, who nods along and takes another bite of food. “You’ll laugh, but, uh, part of me has wanted to go since I saw  _ White Christmas _ as a kid.” She looks down and chuckles softly to herself, but when she looks back up, Dani looks a little distraught. “Doesn’t have to be Vermont,” Jamie says quickly.

“No, it’s not that,” Dani says, “snow sounds nice. I just…” she takes a deep breath and looks into Jamie’s eyes, one blue and one brown, gazing at her hopelessly. “I don’t think we should, you know, plan Christmas.”

“One day at a time,” Jamie says reassuringly, smiling at her, “one day at a time is fine by me. As long as those days are with you, Poppins.” And she means every single word when she says it, because all Jamie wants is to spend time with Dani. The love of her life. “One day at a time is what we’ve got. It’s what everybody’s got when you get down to it.”

She wants forever. Jamie wants forever and ever, and she wants an endless stretch of days with Dani. The next few weeks pass with them travelling around together, going on little adventures, and then they talk about settling down together. They pool what money they have and buy a little shop space, and together, they turn it into the most gorgeous little flower shop ever. They get the flat above the shop, and turn it into a home.

Paintings go on the walls. Books on shelves that they build together. Plants occupy every single available surface, and it’s all Jamie could have ever dreamed of— to be surrounded by so much life and love. She’s  _ happy. _ She’s happy that the universe had decided to curse her with a soulmark, because it led her to the love of her life. She’s so glad that they’re soulmates.

By the time a year passes, Jamie acquires herself a little moonflower and takes it back to the shop for Dani. She sets it down in front of Dani, who gazes down at it with surprise written on her face.

“I’ve got a problem,” Jamie says, looking into Dani’s eyes, “or rather,  _ we’ve  _ got a problem, Poppins.” She tilts her head ever so slightly as Dani smiles at the word  _ Poppins _ .

“Oh no.”

“You see… I’m not sick of you, at all. Actually, I’m pretty in love with you, it turns out. The universe was right when it stuck us together.” Jamie’s soulmark warms under her shirt as Dani steps out from behind the counter and kisses her. 

That year turns into two, then three, then four, and five. Jamie cherishes every single day she has with Dani, somehow falling in love with her even more with every passing day. As weeks pass by, Dani tells her more of everything that had happened at Bly, sort of like closure for both of them. She finds out about the ghosts and the Lady of the Lake, lurking somewhere in Dani, and she feels like she needs to protect Dani forever, to hold her close and never let anyone take her away. Jamie is so grateful to have finally found her soulmate, and with her, peace. Jamie wants it forever.

Then, one night, Jamie is working on a lousy attempt to make dinner, when Dani comes in with a sad looking plant. “Found it in the street. Wanted to save it,” Dani says, and Jamie’s heart absolutely melts.

“Give it here, then,” she murmurs, still in awe of Dani even after all of the years. She takes the plant as Dani moves to the stove to salvage dinner. Jamie puts her hands into the dirt, trying to find the problem, when she feels something, something that shouldn’t be there. She digs it out, revealing a beautiful golden ring, and Jamie can’t quite comprehend it.

“Dani, why is there a—”

Dani gazes at her. “Here’s the thing,” she says, and Jamie listens keenly. “You’re my best friend, and the love of my life. And I don’t know how much time we have left, but however much it is, I want to spend it with you. And I know we can’t technically get married, but I also don’t really care. We can wear the rings, and we’ll know. And that’s enough for me, if it’s enough for you.”

Jamie is about to cry. She never thought they would ever get  _ married _ , but she would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about it; hadn’t envisioned the most beautiful wedding with Dani. The ring hangs on her finger as she delightedly smiles at Dani. “I reckon that’s enough for me, yeah,” she says, pulling Dani close, kissing her once, twice, three times. 

“I love you,” she murmurs softly.

“I love you too,” Dani whispers back. Jamie laughs and hugs her, wanting the moment to last forever.

Not much time passes before things start going askew. Dani shatters a plate, and then confesses about seeing The Lady of the Fucking Lake, quietly sobbing about how she’s coming back. Jamie doesn’t know what to do. She wants to fistfight the fucking lady, because how  _ dare _ she make Dani feel this way, but that isn’t possible, so all Jamie can really do is comfort Dani, and hold her close.

They keep an eye on it. It’s what they have to do, and Jamie believes that everything is going to be alright and that they’re going to be okay. She’s thrilled when they get the civil union papers— they’ll marry again when they can, and she’s excited to tell Dani the news.

She never really gets to. Dani sits in the bathroom, staring into the tub, and that’s when Jamie knows that it’s getting very serious. The Lady of the Fucking Lake just won’t  _ stop _ , won’t leave them alone to be happy and in love, and Jamie fucking hates her for it. “Look,” Jamie says, clutching onto Dani like a lifeline, “if you can’t feel anything, then I’ll feel everything for the both of us.”

They fall asleep in each other’s arms that night. Jamie falls asleep way after Dani does, listening to the soft breathing of her soulmate and wondering how much time they’ll have left. Fear drifts back into her heart, finally back after years and years. When Jamie finally drifts off, she’s tried to convince herself that they still have years, but she’s still afraid.

When she wakes up, it’s to a feeling she hasn’t felt in  _ years. _

Her soulmark is malfunctioning.

She hasn’t noticed her soulmark for a while, now— the letters are simply a part of her, and the feeling they bring is how she’s felt for years with Dani. But now, it grows with a bitter cold. Jamie sits up in bed with horror. Dani’s space is empty. Jamie notices a note and snatches it up.

Dani is gone. She’s gone. She’s left, to protect Jamie, and to appease the Lady of the Lake once and for all. Jamie gets up as quickly as she can and rushes to the bathroom, and through blurry tears, she can see her soulmark starting to lighten in color.

It’s as if the soulmark guides her to where she needs to go. Jamie doesn’t even realize what she’s doing or where she’s going; all she can focus on is her soulmark and  _ Dani. _ She needs to get to Dani, before Dani does something stupid.

Jamie doesn’t know how much time has passed when she finds herself standing in front of Bly Manor. She’s still a little numb, but when she catches sight of Dani, wading into the lake, water to her waist already, she shouts. “Dani!” she screams with everything inside of her, just like she had screamed those years ago. “Dani!”

She runs. Jamie sprints as quickly as she can for Dani, who doesn’t look back. Dani walks completely into the water, and Jamie follows. Her tears mix in with the water as she opens her eyes, seeing nothing but murky darkness for a moment, but then she sees Dani.

Jamie swims with everything she’s got, reaching out and grabbing Dani’s arm. She holds on tight, tries to swim up and pull Dani out, but Dani won’t. Dani keeps sinking, and Jamie’s not about to let go. She can’t. She can’t lose the love of her life.

She swims closer and wraps her arms around Dani, trying again to pull her up. She sees Dani’s eyes close, and she shouts at her, voice obscured by water. Jamie’s soulmark feels colder than the water, and then she closes her eyes.

Jamie thinks. She thinks back to all of the moments they’ve had together, and the first time Dani had pressed her fingers against Jamie’s soulmark replays in her mind. She finds Dani’s soulmark and touches it, but nothing happens. Dani doesn’t open her eyes.

So, in a desperate effort, Jamie swims down as presses her own soulmark to Dani’s.

Everything stops. Time itself slows as Jamie opens her eyes in surprise, gasping underwater at the warm shock of static. Her soulmark glows against Dani’s, and then Dani’s grasping for her. They swim up together, and exhaustively collapse together at the shore.

Jamie can’t stop sobbing. “I love you. I love you. I love you,” she murmurs to Dani over and over and over again. When she looks into Dani’s eyes, they’ve changed. They’re both blue. She cups Dani’s face and looks at her, not quite believing how close she had just been to losing her soulmate. 

“She’s gone,” Dani says quietly after some time, “the Lady of the Lake. She’s gone now.”

Jamie pulls Dani close into a hug. “What were you thinking, Poppins?” she says into Dani’s shoulder. “I could’ve lost you. Please, don’t ever scare me like that again.” Jamie is  _ so glad _ , so fucking glad that Dani is here,  _ alive _ , and that the Lady of the Fucking Lake is finally gone. Maybe, now they’ll have a chance at a full life together, freedom and peace without a ghost weighing on them.

“Thanks for saving me.”

“I love you,” Jamie says again, and kisses her, determined to never let go.

Years and years go by, even more peaceful than before. Jamie is so wholeheartedly in love that she doesn’t even remember a time she didn’t believe in love, and she can’t imagine a life without Dani in it. They travel around the whole world and go on little adventures together. They visit Owen at his restaurant every so often, and their flower shop thrives. Jamie plants moonflowers every year, and they go together to see them in bloom.

Jamie ends up telling their story, too. At little Flora’s wedding. Flora, who’s all grown up now, who has a soulmate that she’s getting married to, listens closely to the whole story, but she doesn’t seem to remember them or put together any of the pieces.

Dani remembers, though. She sits right next to Jamie and holds her hand, and when Jamie sneaks little peeks at her, Dani always smiles lovingly. 

“I liked your story,” Flora says at the end, “but I think you set it up wrong, in the beginning.”

If only Flora really knew.

“Is that so?” Jamie asks, looking over to Dani.

Flora nods. “You said it was a ghost story. It isn’t. It’s a love story.”

Jamie smiles as she reaches for Dani’s hand. Jamie would have never believed it before, not in a thousand years, but Flora is right. It  _ is _ a love story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> congrats for getting through it!! as you can tell. i didn't proofread. it's nearly 2am and i'm tired and impatient!! anyway i love comments and kudos they are like free serotonin for me <3

**Author's Note:**

> ok hey if anyone wants my dani/jamie playlist [here it is!!!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ZE6y8Q9qqsO3rHg0MwMUw)  
> look i don't know if anyone will actually like this but i put in the effort. comments and kudos are very much appreciated. my tumblr is @violetstardust. this work is like maybe my pride and joy :)


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